Dark Tamer
by Dark Tamer
Summary: CHAPTER 11 UP! DISCONTINUED! The DReaper has been defeated but the real adventure's just beginning when another tamer reveals himself. Is there more to him than what meets the eye and what secrets does he hide?
1. Enter the Dark Tamer

Here's a new fanfiction to sink your teeth into.

**READ FIRST: This story takes place after the defeat of the D-Reaper. Impmon never revealed himself to the other tamers so he was never involved with them. This is what would happen if he didn't reveal himself until four years later...**

Please R&R.

**Dark Tamer**

**Chapter 1: Enter the Dark Tamer**

I can't believe how long it's been since it all happened. It seems like only yesterday I became a Digimon Tamer and created Guilmon. I remember meeting two other tamers just like me and before I knew it all my closest friends had digimon as well. Together we went to the Digital World and defeated the Devas and went up against the sovereign. Then the D-Reaper kidnapped Jeri because it had an interest in Jeri's dark past on losing her mother. Leomon, my fellow tamers, and I rescued her and destroyed the D-Reaper before it hurt anyone else but unfortunately our partners had to go back to the Digital World. About a few months later, I found the portal to the Digital World and everyone was happy about it. We went there and got our partners and now they can stay with us. It's been four years since then and none of us realized that it was just the beginning…

"Takato, wake up! It's time for school!" yelled Mrs. Matsuki.

"Ok mom!"

14-year old Takato Matsuki got out of bed and got dressed into a gray shirt with a red stripe on the shoulder, blue jeans, and red shoes. His clothing had changed over time but he still wore his yellow goggles on his head and his hair was still a bit messy but it had some neatness in it now. He went downstairs and took some bread for Guilmon when he dropped by the hideout. His parents knew all about Guilmon and other digimon but they still made sure their partners weren't really seen much because some humans were still uneasy about digimon and most had forgotten by now. Takato grabbed his backpack and went out the door after saying goodbye to his parents and leaving with a bag of bread. Once he got to the hideout, Guilmon was happy to see him, as always.

"Hey Takato!"

"Hey Guilmon! I brought you some bread."

"Yeah! Did you bring peanut butter too?"

"Of course. Here you go and I'll see you after school, ok boy?"

"Ok."

Takato watched as Guilmon dug inside the bag and opened the jar of peanut butter. He smiled and then went down the stone steps towards the school. Waiting at the gate were Henry and Rika. The private school that Rika had went to earlier kicked her out because of tardiness so she was put into a public school with the other tamers. She didn't mind, but some people she couldn't handle through the whole school day. Henry still had his neat hair but he now wore an orange shirt with blue lettering on it, gray pants, and white shoes. Rika had grown her hair out longer but she still put it in a ponytail and she had on a blue shirt with a red heart on it, a jean shirt over it, jeans, and gray shoes.

"Hey goggle head. I see you're not late this time," said Rika.

"Hey! The last time was an accident. I…slept in," Takato replied.

Henry sighed and said, "Let's get going. Don't want the teacher to be mad at us."

They nodded and headed inside. They had the same first period together, so it was fine. As the day dragged on, it was finally time for lunch. Takato went outside to look for the others. He saw Jeri sitting in a shady spot under a tree and headed over to her. She still put her hair in the same style and she had on a white skirt with a pink sash, a white shirt with a pink rose on it and light pink shoes.

"Hey Jeri," he greeted.

Jeri looked up, smiled and said, "Oh, hi Takato."

"Where are the others at?"

"I'm not sure…oh wait! Here comes Kazu and Kenta."

Takato turned and saw Kazu and Kenta coming. Kenta was wearing a white shirt and khakis and blue shoes. Kazu had his spiky hair still and he wore a blue Adidas shirt with white pants and gray shoes. Takato waved at them as they approached.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey chumley. School sucks so far, huh?" Kazu asked.

If there was one thing that didn't change about Kazu, it was his outlook on school even though Rika said it was his poor use of his brain. As they approached, another person joined the group.

"What's up?"

"Hey Ryo!" Kazu said.

Ryo wore a brown shirt with black pants and had on dark blue shoes. Ryo's family had moved into West Shinjuku only about a year ago. His dad had gotten a new job and they had to move here. Kazu still admired him and Rika still hated his guts. He walked up to them as Henry and Rika approached, Rika making a sour face once she saw him.

"Hi wildcat," said Ryo as Rika approached the group.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that, Ryo?" she said angrily.

"Come on guys. We don't need to have a word fight going on right now. Let's just enjoy lunch," said Henry.

"That's only if the cooks didn't poison our food," said Kazu.

Rika rolled her eyes at them as they sat down under the tree. They ate and talked about things, mostly digimon. Once the bell rang for the next class, they said their goodbyes as they departed for their classes. The rest of the day went by slow for some, fast for others. Once school was out, they all joined at the gate and started walking home. Along the way, they ran into Henry's sister Suzie. She still put her hair up in pigtails and she wore a yellow shirt with a blue star on it, blue pants, and red shoes.

"Hey Henry," she said waving.

"Hey Suzie. What are you doing?"

"I came from Amy's house and was just heading home."

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll see you guys later," he said walking off with Suzie.

"Ok, see ya," said Takato.

Takato went to Guilmon's hideout while the others went to their own homes to see their digimon. He went up to the gate and peered inside. He didn't see Guilmon so he figured that the digimon was out chasing squirrels or something. After a little bit of searching, he found him with Calumon playing in the water.

"Hey Guilmon. Hey Calumon," he said.

"Takato's home," said Guilmon cheerfully.

"You guys staying out of trouble?" he asked.

"For now," said Calumon.

Takato sighed and wondered where Calumon got his mischief. Calumon went where he liked and no one knew when or where he would pop up next. They tried to keep the little digimon out of trouble and tried to find him a tamer, which worked like a charm. He played with them in the water for a while until Guilmon started to growl.

"What is it, boy?" asked Takato.

"A digimon," he growled.

"Then let's go."

Takato took out his D-Arc and used the compass to track down the digimon. He finally spotted the digital field and entered it, pulling down his goggles. Henry, Rika, Ryo, and Jeri were there already with their partners.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Not sure yet. It hasn't appeared," said Henry.

"Momentai. Just give it a sec," said Terriermon.

"Yeah right," Ryo said to the bunny.

Suddenly, a huge blue bird with yellow lightning marks on it, a yellow bolt on his head, and white feathers. Rika pulled out her D-Arc and scanned the bird.

"Thunderbirdmon. An armor digimon, ultimate level. His attacks are Thunderstorm and Spark Wing. He shouldn't be too tough."

"You guys ready?" said Takato.

They all nodded as they took out a digivolution card and swiped it.

"Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!"

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION

"Guilmon matrix digivolve to…WarGrowlmon!"

"Terriermon matrix digivolve to…Rapidmon!"

"Renamon matrix digivolve to…Taomon!"

"Monodramon matrix digivolve to…Cyberdramon!"

Leomon didn't digivolve, unlike the rest of them, and stepped up in fighting stance with the others. They all attacked the bird at the same time.

"Atomic Blasters!" said WarGrowlmon.

"Rapid Fire!" shouted Rapidmon.

"Talisman of Light!" said Taomon.

"Desolation Claw!" Cyberdramon said.

"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon said.

Thunderbirdmon watched as the attacks came at him and he dodged each one with ease. They kept attacking but the digimon would keep dodging them. Then Thunderbirdmon attacked.

"Spark Wing!" he said as the tips of his wings shot electricity out at the digimon and attacked them.

The digimon tried to dodge it but the lightning would figure out their movements and attack them there. The tamers nervously watched as their digimon were getting pounded by the ultimate.

"Maybe we should go to mega level," Ryo said.

"You think so?" Jeri asked.

Takato looked at her and said, "Ryo's right. We won't win unless we digivolve to mega."

Before any of them could get out their D-Arcs to bioemerge, another voice appeared.

"Double Impact!" shouted a gruff voice.

Thunderbirdmon screeched as the bullets made impact. Out of the shadows came a tall biker digimon. He had a purple helmet on that covered half of his face; short, blonde, spiky hair; a black shirt and pants with a leather jacket on and two holsters: one on his back and one on his leg. His spiky boots, long metallic-looking tail, claws, and three red eyes completed his appearance.

"Who is that guy?" Takato asked.

Henry pulled out his D-Arc and said, "Beelzemon. A virus type digimon. Mega level. This demon lord's Double Impact and Darkness Claw attacks are almost always lethal."

"A mega digimon?" said Takato in surprise.

"From the looks of this guy, he doesn't look like the type of digimon you want to piss off," said Ryo.

"Yeah. He could take care of you with those guns or claws," Rika said.

"Well I'm not scared of him," Rapidmon said boldly.

Taomon looked at them and said, "We're not even sure if he's on our side or not."

"Ok. No one attack. Let's see what happens," Takato said.

The two digimon looked at each other and then Thunderbirdmon attacked the mega digimon.

"Spark Wing!"

Beelzemon smirked as he let the attack hit him full force. The tamers watched as the dust started to settle but were surprised when the mega was still standing there.

"Thunderbirdmon didn't even phase him," said Leomon.

Beelzemon smiled and said, "If that's all you got, then I'm wasting my time." He put his gun back in the holster and jumped into the air. He went over Thunderbirdmon and then his claws glowed purple as he said, "Darkness Claw!"

The claws went through him as Thunderbirdmon screeched in pain and then was instantly deleted. Instead of loading the data, though, Beelzemon watched as it floated in the air. The tamers were surprised at this stranger's power. The digimon went back to their rookie forms, except for Leomon, and looked at the digimon.

"Who are you?" Rika asked.

Beelzemon turned and looked at them but another voice appeared.

"I could ask you the same question, but then that would be a waste of time."

A boy around 12 years old emerged from the shadows and the tamers looked at him. He had short auburn brown hair, brown eyes, and he wore a white shirt with a light blue shirt over it, light blue pants, black shoes, and a silver cross necklace. They looked at each other before he spoke again.

"You are the tamers, right?"

"Yeah. What do you want?" asked Takato.

"Nothing. Just so happens we crossed paths. I remember four years ago they were talking about you. Saved the world and such. Beelzemon and I tried to help too but we didn't want to get involved with you guys."

"So you're a tamer too, huh?" said Rika.

"Indeed," he said as he pulled out his black D-Arc.

"Well all right! I'm Takato. It's nice to meet you," he said as he held out his hand.

The boy ignored it as he looked at him. "Who are the others?"

Takato took away his hand and said, "Oh. That's Guilmon, my partner. There's Henry and Terriermon, Rika and Renamon, Ryo and Monodramon, and Jeri and Leomon. There's a few more of us but I'm sure you'll meet them soon."

He shrugged and said, "Maybe, maybe not."

"What do you mean? If you're a tamer, then you can be on our team."

"Just because we're tamers, doesn't automatically make us friends," he said coldly.

"We're just trying to be nice," Jeri said.

"Well you don't have to worry about us much. We pull our own weight. Let's go, Beelzemon."

They turned and walked away until Takato called out to them.

"Hey! You never told us your name!"

The boy stopped and looked at him. Takato wasn't sure why but he felt like something was surrounding the boy.

"Just call me the Dark Tamer," he said.

Before they could say anything else, the boy and his partner were gone as if they were never there in the first place.


	2. Revealing Identities

**Chapter 2:  
****Revealing Identities**

The tamers were still puzzled at this new kid. They were all at Guilmon's hideout, trying to figure out this new tamer. Kazu, Kenta, and Suzie were also informed of the new tamer so they were there too.

"Just who is this guy?" Kazu asked.

"Not sure. But he called himself the…Dark Tamer. I wonder what that means," said Takato.

Henry thought and said, "I think I heard of that name before. I might have it in one of my files on the computer somewhere. I'll look tonight for it."

Henry had started keeping different files of things that appeared new in the Digital World so we could remember and learn from them. He had mostly talked to the sovereigns so he got most of his information from them.

"I think I heard of the Dark Tamer once. He's supposed to be a tamer that tames only virus type digimon," said Lopmon.

"Well he did have a virus type digimon," Takato said.

"Yes but it doesn't mean he is **the **Dark Tamer," Renamon pointed out.

"In any case we'll keep an eye on him, if we ever see him again," said Rika.

Suzie looked at her brother and said, "Henry, didn't you say he was about my age?"

Henry nodded and said, "He was about your age, maybe a bit older."

"I could look to see if he goes to my school or if anyone knows him," she suggested.

"Good idea. Maybe if he does go to Suzie's school, she can keep an eye on him and he won't have to know she's a tamer," said Takato.

As the sun started to set, the tamers headed home to meet again tomorrow. When Henry got home, he started to look for the file on his computer. He went into the one he thought was it and started searching. He almost jumped out of his seat when he found it.

"This isn't good," he said to himself.

He quickly printed it out and started reading it to himself over and over. After studying it for a while, he put the paper away and went to bed. It was the weekend, so when Henry woke up he immediately called Takato.

"Hello?" said Takato.

"Takato, it's Henry. Listen I found the information and we need to have an urgent meeting with the others. I'll meet you at Guilmon's place in about an hour."

"Ok. It must be important, Henry."

"It is. Bye."

"Bye."

Takato called the others up and told them what was going on. He then went out the door and ran to Guilmon's place. Once he got there, Henry and Suzie with their partners were already there. After a while, everyone on the team was present and Henry decided it was time to tell them.

"Ok you guys. I'm going to read from the article since there's no other way of saying this." He cleared his throat as he read. " 'The digimon believed that there would always be digimon that would partner up with humans and thus be called tamers. The only digimon that would ever partner up with humans would be data or vaccine type digimon. If the digimon were a virus, then it would be a digimon created by a human so it would be dubbed as a vaccine or data type instead. But there has also been a cause for worry with these partners. A virus type, or to separate them from a created digimon they would be called a 'true virus' type, could never have the heart to partner with a human for they are vile creatures and never want anything of the sort. There has always been talk though of a 'true virus' type to partner with a human but if such a thing happened it would be disastrous. For one, the human would have a dark spirit and soul and they could also cause chaos and damage. Putting the two together could cause them to control both worlds and thus we have feared the one who calls himself the Dark Tamer.'"

"Is that what Azulongmon said?" Takato asked.

Henry nodded and said, "They're scared of the Dark Tamer because of what power they can possess."

"So what should we do?" asked Terriermon.

"He might be on our side, even if he doesn't want to be part of the team," suggested Renamon.

Rika nodded and said, "That was the way with us. Fighting for the same cause but not wanting to be a part of a team."

"Do you think we should notify Yamaki about the new tamer?" Jeri asked.

"Yeah, we should. Let's go there now," said Henry as they headed towards the Hypnos building.

The boy with the auburn brown hair walked through the crowd with Beelzemon behind him.

"Don't you think it would've been better to accept their offer on being a part of their team?" asked Beelzemon.

"You know as well as I do, Beelzemon, that they would've figured out who we were. No virus would want to be with a human and you're the only one. Besides, it's better that they know and we keep our distance."

"They could help us."

He looked at Beelzemon and said, "I don't want anyone to risk their lives for us. Both of us have felt the pain of losing someone before and I don't want it to happen like it did four years ago."

Beelzemon sighed and said, "You're right. But what if they don't care who we are?"

"Then that's fine with me. Let's go."

They continued down the sidewalk thinking about what they should do about the tamers. Meanwhile, the tamers were walking out of the Hypnos building after telling Yamaki of the new tamer. He said he would stay notified and there was nothing more they could do. As they walked home, another bioemerge appeared. They started to run toward it and went into the digital field just in time to see Beelzemon destroy a Mummymon.

"It's you again," Takato said.

After watching Mummymon's defeat, the boy turned toward them and said, "Yeah, so? What do you want?"

"So you really are the Dark Tamer, right?" Rika asked.

He smiled and said, "Very good, Digimon Queen."

She growled at him and then Suzie looked at him.

'He looks familiar but…'

She gasped as she realized who it was. She didn't recognize him at first but she was sure that it was him.

"I know you."

He looked at her and said, "And you are?"

"You probably don't remember me but I'm Suzie. My partner is Lopmon and Henry is my older brother."

'Suzie…' he thought.

"Sorry. Doesn't ring a bell," he said starting to walk away.

"Mako, wait! We can help you."

Mako turned to look at her and said, "There's nothing you can do for me, Suzie. So just leave me be."

Suzie stared after him as he and Beelzemon walked away from the battle scene. The others were surprised by what just happened but at least they knew who he was now.

"Henry, you're sure he's the Dark Tamer?" she asked him.

He nodded and said, "Yes. He called himself that and since he has a virus type for a partner, that makes it prove it even more."

She sighed as she thought, 'Mako…the Dark Tamer.'


	3. Conversational Matters

**Chapter 3: Conversational Matters**

Takato sighed as he lay on his bed, thinking about what has been going on in the past few days as the clouds outside went over the moon. Guilmon was lying by Takato's bed, taking a nap. Takato was about to do the same when his mom called him.

"Takato!"

"Coming!" he said as he went downstairs. "Yeah Mom? What's up?"

She handed him a bag of bread and said, "Could you go deliver this to Ms. Yakanishi for me? Poor old thing broke her leg and can't get out of the house or at least that's what she said."

He took the bag and said, "You mean that old lady with the cats?"

"Yes. Now go deliver it and she'll give you the pay for it."

"Since when did we deliver bread?" Takato asked.

"Since you decided to be someone who likes to stay up late. Now go and she might give you a nice tip."

"Yeah. The last time she gave me a 'tip' was a stick of gum," Takato mumbled.

He decided not to wake Guilmon up and started to go out the door. He went down a few streets and then came to a small white house. He went up to the door and knocked as he heard some shuffling. When the door opened, there stood an old lady with white curly hair and some small round glasses. Takato looked at the cast on her leg and also at the several cats that were behind her.

"Hi. I'm from the Matsuki bakery. I brought your bread."

"Oh, good. Come on in and I'll get you your pay."

Takato went in and said, "Where do you want me to put this?"

"Just put it on the table over there," she said pointing to a small dining table.

He put it down and then heard meowing as he looked down and saw a lot of cats rubbing against him. He smiled as he bent to pick one up but then it hissed and scratched him on the cheek.

"Ow! Thanks a lot," he mumbled to them.

"Here you go dear," she said as she handed him the money.

"Thanks. Bye now," he said as he started out the door.

"Wait. I think you should deserve a nice tip."

'Oh boy,' he thought remembering the last time he delivered something to her.

He suddenly felt a couple of bills slip into his hands. He looked down and saw that it was 20 bucks. Takato's eyes widened at the money.

"I can't take this. Not this much money."

"Nonsense. I'm old and my money usually comes from other places. Besides, a boy your age should buy something nice."

"Well…ok. Thanks and bye," Takato said as he walked out the door.

He pocketed the money and walked down the sidewalk when he heard a chuckle. He turned to see Mako in a black coat looking at him.

"So…you're paying old ladies visits huh?"

"Look it was a delivery job. What do you want anyway?"

"Does it really matter? I was just passing by is all. By the way, where's that doofus partner of yours?"

"You leave Guilmon out of this and don't call him a doofus," Takato said as a temper started to rise in his voice.

Mako smirked and said, "What can that partner of yours do anyway? He's just like all the rest of them. Silent but deadly."

"What do you mean the rest of them?"

"Are you blind! Don't you see the hazard sign on his chest? Any digimon that bears the sign of hazard should be deleted immediately."

"You're not going to delete Guilmon. He's my friend and I'll do whatever it takes to defend him."

Mako turned around and said, "You're just defending a monster. One day he'll get out of control and even you won't be able to stop him. If you know what's good for you and the innocent lives in this city, you'll get rid of him."

"Never! I will never do that to him!"

"Then your more blind than anything," Mako said as he walked away.

"Hey! Get back here!" Takato yelled after him but he kept going.

Takato turned and started to head home again, anger fuming in him. He calmed down once he got home and gave his mom the pay from the delivery. He went upstairs and into his room as he saw Guilmon was still asleep. He sat on the bed and started to gently pet Guilmon's head.

'Could he really be that dangerous?' Takato wondered. 'No! He would never do anything like that. He's my friend…'

He sighed as he pulled on his pajamas and went to bed, still thinking about Mako's words.

Mako walked down the street thinking about his conversation with Takato.

'What a blind fool. It's obvious that digimon hasn't gotten out of control before but when it does…'

Mako stopped and looked at the sky, still wondering about it.

'If that digimon gets out of control…then I pray we'll be able to stop it.'

Mako continued down the streets until he came to an apartment building. He went up to the third floor and entered his home. The lights were off as he took off his shoes and went to his room. He shut the door behind him as he went towards his bed. He passed a picture of two little kids that was on his dresser as he went into his bed and fell asleep.

The next day, Takato, Henry, Terriermon, and Guilmon went to the park. Takato decided not to tell anyone else about the previous night's conversation but he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Hey Takato you ok?" Henry asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"No reason. You just seem…a bit out of it today."

"Just thinking about stuff."

Takato watched as Guilmon and Terriermon played in the water. Suddenly, a digital field emerged a few miles away. Their D-Arcs started to go off as the digimon came out of the water.

Mako walked down the sidewalk with Beelzemon when his D-Arc went off.

"Another bioemergence. Let's go Beelzemon!"

They were closer to the bioemergence than the other tamers, so naturally they were there first. Mako pulled on his black sunglasses as he entered the digital field and looked for the digimon. Once his eyes were adjusted, he took of his sunglasses and took out his black D-Arc to scan for the digimon. He finally found it as the fog around the digimon parted to reveal it.

"Diaboromon. Virus Type. Mega Level. His attacks are Cable Crusher, Web Wrecker, and Inferno Missile."

"This isn't going to be easy," Beelzemon said.

"I know but I have faith in you, Beelzemon. Now show that thing what we're made of!"

"Right," Beelzemon said as he charged at Diaboromon.

Beelzemon pulled out his two guns and fired at the digimon. Diaboromon dodged the bullets by jumping high into the air. Beelzemon kept firing at him while Diaboromon was still in the air but he still dodged the attacks. As he neared the ground, he attacked Beelzemon.

"Cable Crusher!" he said as his long arms extended and made impact with its target.

Beelzemon got hit with the attack and landed hard on the pavement. He quickly got up and looked at Diaboromon.

"Guess we'll have to do this the hard way," he said as he put his guns away.

Diaboromon stared at him and then attempted a second attack.

"Cable Crusher!"

Beelzemon jumped over his arm extension and charged at Diaboromon while his claws started to glow purple.

"Darkness Claw!"

Diaboromon saw the attack coming and dodged it barely. His arms were still extended as Beelzemon landed and then wrapped his arms around the unsuspecting Beelzemon. He tried to get out of Diaboromon's arms as they kept getting tighter around him.

"Web Wrecker!" he said as electric shocks went from his arms to the trapped Beelzemon.

He screamed and writhed in pain as the electric shocks went through his body.

"Beelzemon!" Mako yelled.

As the electric shocks wore off, Beelzemon slumped to the ground with Diaboromon still hanging on to him. He then jumped into the air with Beelzemon and then threw him to the ground as Beelzemon landed hard into the ground.

Rika was running towards the digital field when she saw Henry, Takato, and their partners running towards there as well.

"Hey goggle heads!" she yelled.

They turned to see her running towards them. They stopped as she caught up to them.

"Hey Rika. Is anyone else coming?" Takato asked.

"I didn't see anyone else but who knows. Come on. We have a digimon to beat," she said as she started towards it again.

They entered the digital field to see Beelzemon on the ground with Diaboromon standing inches away from them.

"He needs help. Guilmon, you ready?" Takato said.

Guilmon nodded and said, "Let's go."

"Renamon," Rika said as she appeared beside her.

"Go Terriermon," said Henry.

The three of them scanned their digivolution cards through their D-Arcs.

"Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!"

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION

"Guilmon matrix digivolve to…WarGrowlmon!"

"Renamon matrix digivolve to…Taomon!"

"Terriermon matrix digivolve to…Rapidmon!"

Just as Diaboromon was about to attack Beelzemon again, he was hit with blasts from the ultimate level digimon.

"Talisman of Light!"

"Rapid Fire!"

"Atomic Blasters!"

Diaboromon was slammed into a building from the attacks but immediately regained himself as he attacked at his new opponents. Beelzemon got up as he saw the three ultimate level digimon. Mako turned to see the other tamers and growled.

"You! What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Saving your butt. What does it look like we're doing?" Rika said.

Mako turned towards the battle again and said, "We don't need help from you weaklings."

"Weaklings!" Rika yelled at him.

"We're trying to help you," said Henry.

"Well I don't need it. Beelzemon it's time for an upgrade!"

He took out his D-Arc and a card as he slashed it through.

"Digi-Modify! Imperialdramon's Giga Cannon Activate!"

A huge cannon appeared in Beelzemon's hands. He balanced himself from the heavier weight and aimed it at Diaboromon.

"Giga Cannon!"

The blast was too big for Diaboromon to dodge as he was hit with it from trying to jump it. He slammed into the ground as the cannon disintegrated from Beelzemon's hands. Once the dust settled, Diaboromon was still alive but damaged. He attempted to attack Beelzemon again but he pulled out his gun and fired at him. Diaboromon shrieked as his data fizzed in and out until he finally disintegrated. The fog cleared and the ultimates went back to their rookie levels. Mako started to walk away when Takato called out to him.

"Why won't you let us help you?"

"Because we don't need it. Don't get in our way," he said.

Beelzemon watched as his tamer walked away and then looked back at the other tamers who were also leaving. Renamon turned and saw Beelzemon still standing there.

"Sorry about Mako. He has his reasons so just stay away."

"We just want to help," Renamon said.

"I know. But don't, ok?" he said as he started to walk off. "Besides, a pretty digimon like you shouldn't be fighting. See you around, toots."

Renamon stared after him and smiled. She knew that Beelzemon wanted help but Mako didn't. She walked away and started to catch up to Rika. Rika got home and went into her room where Renamon followed her.

"Who does that guy think he is? He's such an idiot," she said as she started pacing.

"I know but I think his partner wants our help," Renamon said.

"Maybe. But I'm not going to worry about some guy who wants to go solo. If he wants to get himself killed, then let him," Rika said as she sat down. "Could you go Renamon? I have some studying to do."

Renamon nodded and said, "Of course."

She faded out of the room, leaving Rika to her work.

Takato and Henry walked down the sidewalk with their partners as they discussed the same thing.

"Why do you think he doesn't want our help?" Takato asked.

"I don't know. I'm sure he has his reasons but I don't think fighting by himself is a good thing either," replied Henry.

"Momentai. I'm sure they'll be fine. Besides…if they are destroyed then that's one less tamer to worry about."

"Terriermon! That wasn't very nice."

"Come on Henry. I was just kidding."

As they walked away, Mako was standing in the shadows as he watched them. He heard their conversation as his eyes narrowed.

"What a bunch of fools."

Suddenly a black car pulled up next to him as he approached it. A window rolled down from the driver's side.

"So anything new yet?" a man asked.

"No not yet. I'm going to keep my eye on them, sir."

"Keep me posted."

"I will sir."

The window rolled back up on the car as it drove away, leaving Mako standing on the sidewalk.


	4. Decisions

**Chapter 4: Decisions**

Henry walked toward his apartment and entered through the door. He started to head toward his room when Suzie poked her head out from hers.

"Hey Henry. What's up?"

"Nothing really."

"Another digimon bioemerged. I assume you took care of it?" Lopmon asked.

"Of course. We kicked that digimon's…" said Terriermon.

"Oh! Look at the time! I better get to my homework," interrupted Henry as he went into his room.

Terriermon jumped off of his tamer's shoulder as he landed on the bed and watched Henry go to his computer.

"Terriermon, you really need to watch what you say."

"Relax Henry. What's got you so worked up anyway?" asked Terriermon as he lay on the bed.

"Nothing really. It's just that kid that's been around."

"Ya mean Mako?"

Henry nodded and said, "I just don't get why he doesn't want our help."

"Who knows? Maybe he's just out to get us."

Henry chuckled and said, "I don't think so, Terriermon."

They then heard a small knock on the door as Henry went and opened it. Suzie was standing there with Lopmon beside her.

"What's up Suzie?"

"Dinner's ready you guys. I was also wondering. Henry…do you think I could come with you next time another bioemergence comes? Maybe I could talk to Mako."

Terriermon sat up and said, "How do you know him anyway?"

"I don't **know **him really. He was in some of my classes in elementary school and I just remember him is all," she said.

"Well sure you can come next time. But let's discuss it after dinner, ok?" Henry said as he walked out of the room.

Renamon jumped across the rooftops in the night as the moon reflected off of her blue eyes. She stopped on a high rooftop and started thinking about Mako and his partner. As she was thinking, her senses picked up another presence. She looked down to see Beelzemon walking the streets without Mako.

'I wonder what he's doing,' she thought to herself.

She quietly followed him only for Beelzemon to lead her to the park where he sat under a tree. She watched him from above as he sat there.

'Why doesn't Mako want their help? I know he doesn't want to get close to anyone else but still…' Beelzemon thought to himself.

His thoughts were interrupted as Renamon jumped from her perch in the tree and landed beside him.

"Fancy seeing you here," she said.

"What do you want?" he asked, turning away from her.

"To talk. Why doesn't your partner want our help?"

"How should I know?" he asked facing her.

"I think you do. Your both hiding something I can feel it. What is it that you don't want us to know?"

Beelzemon chuckled a bit and said, "You're getting too nosy for your own good. What goes on in our lives is none of your concern."

"It is if you're one of us."

"Look…just head home, ok? I know you want to help us but there are things that others shouldn't know about. We work alone…"

"Even though you want to work in a team. I know that is your desire but Mako thinks differently than you. Whatever you're hiding is the cause of this…'working solo' bit."

Beelzemon stood up, looked at her, and said, "I'm going to go now. You can do whatever you want but just leave us out of it. We don't want to cause any trouble."

"You're not. I just wanted some answers is all."

"The answers you seek you won't get. See ya, toots," he said as he walked away.

"I would appreciate it if you called me by my name instead of that," she said to him.

He turned to look at her and said, "What is your name anyway? I didn't catch it."

"Renamon."

Beelzemon smiled and said, "Pretty name. Well see ya…Renamon."

She watched as he walked out of sight and wondered what it was they were hiding. Renamon jumped into the trees and headed back to Rika's house to sleep.

The next day, Mako was on a street corner with Beelzemon waiting anxiously for something. He looked at the watch on his arm and it read 1:30.

"He's late," Mako mumbled.

Beelzemon leaned against a building wall and said, "He'll be here. Just wait."

A few minutes later, a black car pulled up and the driver's window was rolled down.

"You finally get here," said Mako as he went up to the car.

The man chuckled and said, "Sorry about that. I brought you a…a little present."

Mako smirked and said, "Oh really?"

"Yes. I think it might help you get the information I need from them."

The man held out a small gadget to Mako and he took it. Mako examined it carefully. It looked like a headband with a small green window on the left side and some buttons on the other side along with an earpiece.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Put it on and you'll see. Press the red button."

Mako put on the weird gadget as the green window covered his left eye and he put the earpieces in both of his ears. He pressed the button and immediately the window came alive with readings. He looked towards Beelzemon and then an electronic voice appeared in his ears.

"Life Form: Digimon. Mega Level. Power Reading: 5000."

"Impressive," Mako said as he took off the headpiece.

"Thought you might like it. It also records what it scans until it is full and you can easily delete that information by pressing the black button."

"Guess a user's manual is out of the question. Now we can see how strong those weaklings are."

"Yes. And here. This will help you determine what's normal and what's…above that," said the man as he handed Mako a slip of paper. "It tells you power readings for each level of digimon or human."

"So it scans humans too, huh?" he said taking the paper.

"Yes. Any life form can be scanned."

"How useful. Well then I'll see you around and I'll call you after the next battle."

The man nodded as he rolled up his window and drove away. Mako went up to Beelzemon and they started walking.

"So that's going to help us?" Beelzemon asked.

Mako nodded and said, "Yeah. We'll get the information we need soon enough. We just need to get every tamer that's here their information."

Ryo stepped out of a store looking at the new Digimon cards he just bought. Cyberdramon was waiting for him outside because Ryo didn't want him to accidentally wreck anything.

"Digivolution card…another Goliath…That Was A Good Time…" Ryo mumbled to himself as he flipped through the cards.

He pocketed them after looking at them and started walking down the street with Cyberdramon. They passed by many shops and Ryo stopped at some of them to see their merchandise. Along the way, Cyberdramon suddenly started growling, unnerving some of the people standing by.

"What is it Cyberdramon?" Ryo asked.

"Something's coming," he growled.

Ryo took out his D-Arc to see if there was any activity but it didn't pick up anything. He was about to question his partner when there was suddenly a booming sound as another digital field emerged. The D-Arc went off in Ryo's hand and started indicating where the bioemergence was.

"Now it tells us. Let's go Cyberdramon!"

Cyberdramon picked up Ryo and flew off towards the digital field with impressive speed.

"Where am I? What is this place?"

The digimon train looked at his surroundings to see that he was no longer in the Digital World, but the Real World.

"Yes! I am free of that world! This world and all its contents shall be mine!" he roared as he suddenly took off.

Ryo looked down and his eyes widened at what he saw. A black digimon train with two red eyes on each side and one on its front was rampaging through the streets. He took out his D-Arc and scanned it.

"Dark Trailmon. Ultimate Level. Data Type. Attacks are unknown," Ryo said. "Oh man. Looks like we need help on this one."

"We have to stop it. We can't just wait for the others to show up."

"You're right, let's go. Bioemerge Activate!"

Henry was sitting on the couch with his brothers and sisters when a news report of a runaway train came on and his D-Arc went off. Terriermon and him quickly got up and started to head out the door.

"Henry wait. I want to come too," said Suzie.

"No, stay here. The others and I will take care of this."

"But Henry Mako might be there," she argued.

"It doesn't matter. You stay here and besides you guys can't go to mega level. From the information I received it would be too strong for you two to handle."

"But Henry…"

"End of discussion," he said as he went out the door.

As he ran down the street, Terriermon talked to him.

"Don't you think that was harsh Henry? She's a tamer too you know."

"I know Terriermon but I don't want her to get hurt. Besides she can come next time."

"Ok. I'll remind you that you said that."

Henry took out his D-Arc to see where the digimon was. The compass pointed west by the bridge that led into another part of a city over the river. He headed there and soon came upon a struggling Justimon. Justimon saw them as he strained to keep Dark Trailmon from going any further.

"Guys. A little help?"

"Hang on. Bioemerge Activate!"

"Terriermon bioemerge to…MegaGargomon!"

MegaGargomon came up beside Justimon and started to push against Dark Trailmon.

"You…will not…get in my way. I…will…see to that," said Dark Trailmon.

"We won't…let you…go into the city," said Justimon.

"We'll see about that!" he said as he suddenly put more power into his push.

The two mega digimon were pushed aside as the train digimon sped across the roads towards the bridge. Gallantmon and Sakuyamon came upon the scene.

"Guys what's going on?" asked Sakuyamon.

"That digimon is headed toward that part of the city over the bridge. We have to stop him," said Justimon.

"Wait. Isn't that the bridge they put in so big boats can go through?" Takato asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Henry said.

"If one of us goes over to the control room and lift up the bridge while the rest of us distract it, we can put Dark Trailmon in the river and destroy him."

"Sounds like a good plan to me. Let's go," said Ryo.

"I'll go to the control room and you guys stop him," said Henry.

MegaGargomon flew off ahead of Dark Trailmon and to the control room while the other mega digimon went to stop the train. Gallantmon and Justimon went to the front of it and braced themselves for the impact. Dark Trailmon headed right for them and then they used all of their strength to stop it. They made skid marks as the train kept going, even though it was slower.

MegaGargomon landed by the control room and then went back to their original forms. Henry then went into the room and looked at all the gadgets there. He finally found the lever to the bridge as he pulled on it. He looked outside to hear the groaning of the bridge going up and Dark Trailmon still heading for it.

Dark Trailmon put on more speed, making the two megas start to lose their grip. Sakuyamon tried stopping it with some of her attacks but it seemed like it wasn't affecting him. She finally went behind the train and started to pull on it to try to stop it.

"The bridge isn't up all the way yet," said Gallantmon as Dark Trailmon forced his way up the bridge.

Mako and Beelzemon watched from the top of the bridge at the tamers' struggle. He had on the gadget as it read off their mega form's power.

"Guess they're not so weak if they can bioemerge. But it's still not stopping Dark Trailmon," Mako said.

The bridge kept going up but Dark Trailmon was almost there. The digimon still struggled with the digital train as the bridge still had to reach its peak.

Beelzemon looked at Mako and said, "They need help. We have to…"

"We don't have to do anything."

"They saved us in that battle yesterday, whether you like it or not. Besides, if they can't stop Dark Trailmon now then those innocent lives will be in danger."

Mako thought about this as he watched the digimon still struggling. He didn't want anyone to get hurt, or killed for that matter.

"You can't stop me now!" said Dark Trailmon as he leaped off of the one part of the bridge.

"He's going to jump it!" said Gallantmon.

Mako gasped as he saw Dark Trailmon attempting to jump to the other side of the bridge.

"Go now, Beelzemon!" he said frantically.

Beelzemon put Mako down on the ground and then ran as fast as he could towards the train. Dark Trailmon was in mid-air and it looked like he was going to make it until…

"Jump off of it!" yelled Beelzemon.

The others jumped to the side as he jumped high in the air and then used all of his power to slam the train into the water below. They all watched as Dark Trailmon splashed into the river.

"Shield of the Just!" said Gallantmon.

The attack hit Dark Trailmon and deleted him as the bridge stayed up. Henry and Terriermon came onto the scene where everyone was. The mega digimon went to their original forms as they looked at Mako and Beelzemon.

"Hey thanks for the help," said Takato.

"I didn't do it for you. I did it because I didn't want Dark Trailmon to hurt any people," Mako said.

"Also you helped us yesterday so it's sort of a payback," added Beelzemon.

"Well we appreciated it," said Henry.

"Whatever. Don't get any wrong ideas about us. We protect the innocent and we don't care about you," said Mako as he walked off.

Beelzemon followed him as the others stood there by the bridge.

"What is it with that guy?" said Takato.

"Who knows? Anyway let's get this bridge down again and go home," Ryo said.

"Can we get something to eat? My stomach grumbled," said Guilmon.

"Guilmon do you ever think about anything else than food?" groaned Takato as they walked off.


	5. Trust

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed this story so far. It's going along better than I thought so here's the next chapter...

**Chapter 5: Trust**

As Mako sat at his computer, he typed in the information that he had gotten in the earlier battle. He listened to the recording of the gadget as he typed in the digimon's name and power levels.

"Gallantmon: Power Level: 4500. MegaGargomon: Power Level: 3500. Sakuyamon: Power Level: 4000. Justimon: Power Level: 4000."

Mako sighed as he leaned back in his chair, thinking about the battle.

'Even though they can bioemerge, they were still no match for Dark Trailmon. His power level was the same as Beelzemon's and even combined they couldn't stop him. But still, that digimon that bears the hazard is still a threat. His power level is the closest to Beelzemon's but what would happen if he went out of control?'

He saved the file and went into the kitchen to get a drink. As he poured the milk, he saw the note his parent's left behind before they left. After he was finished, he looked outside. It was dark out but still early. He grabbed his black coat and headed out the door, walking under the cool night sky.

Suzie walked down the streets fuming with anger. She left Lopmon at home because she wanted to be alone for a while. She kept walking, mad at Henry for not letting her go with him.

'What's his deal anyway? We could've helped out but no. Henry has to do everything by himself.'

She started to walk in a neighborhood where a lot of people were inside of their homes.

"Stupid Henry. Why can't he see that I'm as strong as he is?" she said out loud to herself.

"Maybe it's because he's too blind to see it. Or maybe he's just protecting you," said a voice behind her.

She turned around to see Mako standing behind her at a street corner.

"Mako. What do you want?"

"Nothing. I live around here so I'm just taking a stroll," he said as he walked closer to her. "I heard your mumblings to yourself. Sounds like your brother's a pain."

"Not really. He just worries about me a little too much."

"Yeah. I guess that's a good thing."

"A good thing?" she asked as she looked at him.

"Well, I'm just saying. At least he cares about his siblings. There are some older brothers or sisters who don't even care about their younger siblings. You're pretty lucky to have a caring brother."

"I guess so. Now, about the last time we met. You really don't remember me?"

"Nope. Of course, I wouldn't forget a pretty face like yours."

She blushed slightly and, trying to sound menacing, said, "Don't get touchy with me."

"Not trying to. Now…about your brother, maybe we can show him that you are as strong as him."

She looked at him and said, "How?"

He smiled as he walked closer to her and said, "It's easy really. I can show you how if you come with me."

Suzie was about to say something when something jumped from the trees above and stood in between the two.

"Lopmon!" Suzie exclaimed.

"You keep away from her! She doesn't need to hear your nonsense," said Lopmon in an attack stance.

"Lopmon what are you doing here?" Suzie asked.

Keeping her eye on Mako still, she responded, "I quietly followed you here to make sure you were ok. Then I saw this creep talking to you."

"I was just helping her out," Mako said.

"She doesn't need it. She can prove her strength her own way. She doesn't need your help."

Mako sighed in defeat and said, "Fine. I'll go." He took a card out of his pocket and handed it to Suzie. "Here. You can use that card to help digivolve to mega level. Use it well."

He turned around and walked back towards his home. Suzie looked at the card Mako gave her. It was a weird card that had brilliant sparks of light for the picture and the title on it was 'Warped Digivolution'. Lopmon looked at the card that Suzie was holding.

"Why would he give you a card?" Lopmon asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he's not so bad after all," Suzie said pocketing the card.

As they walked back home, Mako watched them from the shadows.

'Now we shall see how loyal these tamers are.'

The next morning, Suzie woke up and went to eat breakfast. She saw that Henry was on the couch watching the morning news. She ate her cereal and then sat down with him. When Henry noticed her sitting there, he looked at her.

"Look Suzie. I'm sorry that I didn't let you go yesterday but if a bioemergence comes today, then you can come," he said.

"Really?" she asked looking at him.

"Of course. I realize you're a tamer, Suzie, but I don't want anything to happen to you. If anything did, mom and dad would freak."

"I guess you're right. I shouldn't be mad at you Henry. You were just being a good brother and I wasn't thinking about how mom and dad would feel if something happened to me."

"Well, now that that's taking care of, let's go somewhere," said Terriermon as he popped onto the head of the couch.

"Yeah it's a nice day out. Please Henry?" asked Suzie as she gave her brother a sad look.

He laughed and said, "Ok. You don't have to beg. Get dressed and get Lopmon and we'll go."

Suzie got dressed and with Lopmon perched on her shoulder, as well as Terriermon perched on Henry's, they left. They walked through different shops looking at the merchandise. Suzie had brought her own money and bought some new Digimon cards as well as a cute necklace she saw. Henry also bought some things to update on his computer. They bought lunch and then started to head home when they ran into Jeri and Leomon.

"Hey guys!" Henry waved to them.

Jeri saw them coming and waved back. Henry and Suzie went up to them to talk about the recent activities lately.

"What's up?" asked Jeri.

"Not much, really. That Mako kid is still around and I'm not sure why," said Henry.

"He might just be wanting to work on his own for the same cause," said Leomon.

"That's what we're thinking but it seems like there's a lot more to it than that," said Suzie.

"Like what?" asked Jeri.

"We're not sure yet but that's why we're keeping an eye on him. By the way, have you seen Calumon around?" said Henry.

Jeri nodded and said, "He's at home with Masahiko. Those two have gotten to be close friends with one another."

"Well at least it keeps him out of trouble," said Terriermon.

Henry nodded and said, "We better go. See you around."

"Ok. See ya."

They started to walk off when another digital field appeared.

"I guess not," said Suzie.

"Sheesh. Can't we ever get break from these bioemerges?" complained Terriermon.

"As long as they keep coming we have to stop them," said Leomon.

"Right. Let's go," said Jeri.

They all headed off toward the digital field and once they got there, they saw that Takato, Rika, Kazu, and Kenta were also there with their partners. Ryo, however, was nowhere to be seen as well as Mako.

"What's bioemerging?" Henry asked them.

"Not sure yet," said Takato.

As the fog cleared a little bit, in front of the tamers was a huge golden dragon with axed wings and purple hair. Suzie pulled out her pink D-Arc and scanned it.

"Ouryuumon. Vaccine Type. Mega Level. This flying dragon's attacks are Eiseiryuuoujin and Ougai."

"Man, those names couldn't get any harder could they?" said Kazu.

"You guys ready?" asked Henry.

"Of course," said Kazu eagerly.

Takato, Henry, and Rika held up their D-Arcs as they glowed.

BIOEMERGE DIGIVOLUTION

"Bioemerge Activate!"

"Guilmon bioemerge to…Gallantmon!"

"Terriermon bioemerge to…MegaGargomon!"

"Renamon bioemerge to…Sakuyamon!"

Suzie looked at Lopmon and said, "You ready?"

"Yes. Let's help out."

Suzie pulled out a digivolution card and slashed it through her D-Arc.

"Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!"

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION

"Lopmon matrix digivolve to…Antylamon!"

They all stood in front of the dragon as Andromon, MarineAngemon and Leomon also joined. Ouryuumon immediately attacked the digimon.

"Ougai!" he roared as multiple blasts of energy were shot at the digimon.

"Lighting Joust!" said Gallantmon.

The attack hit the dragon as it roared in pain, causing the others to attack as well.

"Spirit Strike!"

"Gargo Missiles!"

"Bunny Blades!"

"Kahuna Waves!"

"Gatling Attack!"

"Fist of the Beast King!"

The attacks from them were fired at the digimon and they anxiously waited to see how much damage it had done. Before anyone could react, Ouryuumon attacked them.

"Ougai!" he said as a more powerful blast than the last one hit them.

They all fell to the ground with damage done to them. What they didn't know is that they were being watched. In the shadows nearby, Mako had on his gadget as he watched the power levels of the digimon rise and fall. Beelzemon stood beside him watching the battle as well.

"Should we help them?" asked Beelzemon.

"You know that we can't help them. The last battle they were supposed to face on their own so we could get information off of them, but we helped them. We have no reason to help them now and besides it's their battle," he responded.

"Fine. But if things get too bad for them out there, I'm going."

"By then we might have the information we need because the ones we haven't gotten yet are here now. I'll tell you when you can help them if you want."

"That might be best. What about that little guy, Calumon?"

"He's no concern of ours yet."

The battle raged on between the digimon and Ouryuumon while Mako obtained every detail of their power. They were getting weak and decided on something.

"Maybe we should retreat guys. He's too strong," Sakuyamon said.

"I know what you mean. But we can't give up," said Takato.

MegaGargomon landed next to Suzie after dodging an attack from the dragon.

"Suzie, maybe you should go now," said Henry.

"No way. I'm not leaving."

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Go now!"

MegaGargomon went and charged at the digimon with some more attacks leaving behind Suzie. Her anger flared up, as she knew she could help out. That she wasn't as weak as her brother thought. She then remembered last night.

_Mako handed her the card and said, "Here. This card will help you digivolve to mega. Use it well." _

Suzie took out the card from her pocket that Mako had given her. She looked at it and then at the battle.

'I can be stronger than him,' she thought.

She slashed the card through her D-Arc, not knowing what would happen next.

"Digi-Modify! Warped Digivolution Activate!"

Antylamon started to glow as swirls of dark energy surrounded her as well. She changed in size and shape as she morphed into something else. Once the evolution was complete, standing in Antylamon's place was a dark digimon.

"Cherubimon. Virus Type. Mega Level. Attacks are Lightning Spear and Holy Hug," said Suzie as she read off of her D-Arc. "A virus type? But that can't be right. She's supposed to be a vaccine type, isn't she? Oh, Lopmon. What have I done?"

"This should be interesting," said Mako.

The others looked at this new mega digimon and Suzie knew that this wasn't Lopmon's true mega form. Ouryuumon looked at the mega digimon that just evolved and charged at it.

"Ougai!"

Cherubimon smiled as she swatted away the attack and used her own attacks at the dragon.

"Lightning Spear!" she said as bolts of lightning came down onto Ouryuumon.

Ouryuumon was damaged from some of the bolts of lightning but he was also able to dodge some. His whole body started to glow brightly as he powered up his next attack.

"Eiseiryuuoujin!" he said as he spun around quickly sending a swirling vortex of energy at the virus Cherubimon.

The attack hit full force as Cherubimon was hit dead on. She screamed in pain as she dedigivolved back into her rookie form. Suzie ran up to Lopmon who was on the ground.

"Lopmon! You ok?" Suzie said picking her up.

Lopmon opened her eyes and said, "I'm all right."

"I'm sorry Lopmon. I didn't mean for that to happen. I just…wanted to show Henry that I'm just as strong as him."

"Suzie…you are as strong as him. But you can't prove it by letting others help you. Mako gave you that card but it didn't help you prove anything. You can prove it by relying on your own abilities."

"Thanks Lopmon. I just wish I could help…"

"You can Suzie. Just believe in yourself that you can do it," Lopmon said as she stood up.

Suzie also stood up and said, "You're right. I haven't been a very good tamer because I was only thinking about myself. But now I understand everything. Let's show Ouryuumon what true power is."

"I'm with you Suzie."

Suzie held out her D-Arc as it started to glow, the light engulfing both tamer and digimon.

BIOEMERGE DIGIVOLUTION

"Bioemerge Activate!"

"Lopmon bioemerge to…Cherubimon!"

As the evolution was complete, Cherubimon stood there but this time it wasn't dark. Instead it was a pale pink and white. She looked at her opponent and knew that she could defeat him.

"Let's beat him together guys," said Cherubimon.

"Ready when you are," said MegaGargomon.

"Ok. Lighting Spear!"

"Mega Barrage!"

"Lightning Joust!"

"Spirit Strike!"

"Gatling Attack!"

"Kahuna Waves!"

"Fist of the Beast King!"

All of the attacks hit their target as Ouryuumon screamed and writhed in pain. He finally was deleted as everyone went back into their rookie forms. Mako smiled as he turned off the gadget.

"Looks like they're strong after all. Let's go Beelzemon."

Mako walked off with Beelzemon in tow, still unnoticed by the other tamers. They all congratulated Suzie and Lopmon for a job well done. Suzie pulled out the card that Mako gave her last night and knew that it was because of that card that made Lopmon digivolve into a virus mega digimon.

"I thought I could trust you Mako. I thought you were just like us. But I guess I was wrong…"

She ripped the card in half and let the two halves fall to the ground.

"I'll never trust you again…"


	6. Hazard

**Chapter 6: Hazard**

The car turned sharply on the corner and quickly sped off as several police cars were in hot pursuit after it. The woman in the car smiled as she drove straight into ongoing traffic, losing some of the police cars by having them hit into other vehicles. She made a clean getaway from it but she still had some police cars still after her. She cursed under her breath as the car started to slow down and she realized it was only running on a few drops of gas that had been left in the vehicle.

The wind swept back Mako's hair as he watched the scene below him from the rooftop of a building. Standing next to him was Beelzemon as he also watched the ongoing chase between the cars. The orange glow of the setting sun set on both of their faces as they watched the car starting to slow down, which they realized it must have been running out of gas. Mako reached into his black jacket's pocket and pulled out an interesting device. It looked like one of those new Gameboy Advance SPs that everyone seemed to like but it wasn't something to play games on. It was a silver color and on the back of it was a small box that was connected to it. Mako looked at it and he was still unsure of his orders.

"Here Mako," said the man in the black car.

He handed Mako the device as Beelzemon stood nearby watching the scene. Mako examined it as a confused look came upon his face.

"What? You want me to play video games?" he asked with some sarcasm in his voice.

"No. This may look like that, but it is a very useful device. You could say we 'borrowed' the design of that model of a Gameboy but at least no one will suspect a thing. This is used to collect data and inside of it is a scanner which will tell you everything about the digimon."

"Such as?"

"Well, it will tell you different things. How many digimon they uploaded, their maximum power, and a lot of other things."

Mako looked at him and said, "Then what was the point of having the other device? It's basically useless since I got all of the information off of those other tamers."

"You can use that other device for battle purposes but this will help you figure out weakness and other things of that specific digimon. Once you are done with the data, give it to me for my own purposes."

"So basically this thing uploads a digimon's data, huh? Can you bring the uploaded digimon back to life?"

"No. It was not designed for that."

Mako pocketed the device in his black jacket, sighed, and said with sarcasm, "Darn. If Beelzemon was destroyed then I could upload his data to bring him back to life. But since it doesn't work that way, then I guess I understand."

Beelzemon looked at Mako and, trying to sound hurt, said, "What's that supposed to mean? What happened to having some faith in me?"

Mako looked back at Beelzemon and said, "Come on, you know I was kidding. I have complete faith in you, Beelzemon. I just wonder sometimes…"

Beelzemon shrugged and said nothing more. Mako turned back to the man in the black vehicle.

"So, you want me to upload data of every digimon I defeat?"

"Yes. Study the data and learn from it."

Mako smirked and said, "Well there's the quote of the day. Didn't think you could be so wise."

The man sighed and said, "Your lucky you're getting paid for this."

Mako looked at him and said, "Oh, so I'm getting paid huh?"

"Well, I have to give you something for your troubles. I'll give you however much I think you earn by the end of each week from the amount of digimon's data you uploaded. Since this is your first notification, I'll give you until next Friday to turn it in."

"That sounds good."

"But I'm going to pay you for one today because I'm sending you out on a mission. Won't be much mind you, but enough. Right now as we speak, a digimon that looks human is on a high-speed chase with the police. You need to track it down and upload the data so I can see if you really are qualified for the job."

Mako turned around and started to walk away from the car as he said, "A digimon in their human form, huh? Don't worry, I'll get on it."

"I'll be watching you Mako."

Mako watched as the car drove off and he stood there as he heard the sounds of sirens coming closer.

They both watched as the car came to a halt near a bunch of alleyways and saw the human digimon run out of it just as the police cars came to the stopped vehicle. Mako watched as she tried to lose the police officers.

"Time to go, Beelzemon."

Beelzemon nodded as he picked up Mako and headed over to the alleyways.

The human digimon slipped into the shadows as a bunch of police officers ran past her, not even bothering to stop and look for any sign of her. She smiled as she quickly ran down the alleyway and soon came to a dead end. She listened carefully and knew her escape was successful because she couldn't hear any of the police officers.

"Humans are so foolish," she said out loud to herself.

"Yes, they are aren't they?" said a voice behind her.

She quickly spun around as she saw a boy and a tall digimon in leather standing behind her. Mako examined the human digimon. She had long white hair with it being covered by her purple and red striped hat; she wore a red shirt with a short cape behind it and red pants; purple gloves with spider web designs on them, purple shoes, and dark purple sunglasses covered her eyes. Mako knew about digimon who could have human forms as well as digimon forms. You couldn't scan them in their human form so you had to wait for their digimon form to appear. But he already had a hunch on who she was.

"I'm not as foolish as other humans and you have no choice but to surrender," he said stepping forward.

She growled and said, "I won't surrender to a human nor will I be defeated by one."

Mako sighed and said, "I was hoping that you would surrender but I guess things must come the hard way. You're lucky that I don't allow my partner here to torture you and make you beg for death. Instead he'll make this as quick and painless as possible."

She smiled evilly and said, "Fine then. But I won't be as generous as you are."

"Don't expect you to be."

The woman laughed as she bent double and started to change her form. She grew eight legs and horns and had a bigger body. Once she was done changing, she basically looked like a red and purple striped spider with horns, bandage straps on her eight legs, two white arms with designs on them, messy white hair and red eyes where the sunglasses used to be.

"Arukenimon. Virus Type. Ultimate Level. Attacks are Spider Thread and Acid Mist," Mako said as he scanned her. "I think I preferred your human form. At least you had good looks."

Arukenimon snarled and said, "I may not have the best looks but I will make sure you die beautifully."

"We'll see. Squash the bug Beelzemon."

"With pleasure," he said as he rushed forward.

Takato walked down the sidewalk back towards the bakery where Guilmon was waiting for him. Takato had some errands to do for his mom and he promised his partner once he got back they would play. He suddenly heard the explosions of a battle in progress as he ran toward where it came from. He ran down the street and then suddenly saw the battle going on between Beelzemon and Arukenimon. They didn't see him because he was behind the battle but he watched without making himself known.

"I won't be defeated. Spider Thread!" she said as strings of web came from her hands.

Beelzemon easily jumped over it and pulled out one of his guns while in the air.

"Double Impact!"

The shots fired fast so Arukenimon didn't have time to dodge them as Beelzemon shot her with bullet after bullet. After a few shots were taken, Beelzemon landed onto the pavement as Arukenimon slumped over with bullet holes in her body. She said nothing more as she dispersed into fragments of data. What surprised Takato was that Mako pulled out a device from his pocket and held it out toward the data.

"Data Download Initiate!" Mako said as the data went into the black box of the device.

Takato watched with amazement and at the same time with disgust as Mako loaded the data into the device. After it was finished, he pocketed it again and started to walk out of the alleyway with Beelzemon. Takato quietly followed behind and then quickly hid behind a corner when he saw a black car pull up to them. He listened intently to their conversation as the window of the driver's side rolled down.

"Nice work," the man said as he took the device from Mako.

He took out the black box from the back and placed it in a silver container. He then took out another black box and attached it to the back of the device and handed it back to Mako along with a ten and a five-dollar bill.

"This was a test but now it's the real thing. That black box can hold up to 50 digimon's data and no more. I don't expect you to go up that high every week but don't over work yourself. Good luck."

"You can count on me," he said.

The car drove away as Mako pocketed the device and the money. He started to walk away when Takato ran from his hiding place and stopped him.

"Mako!" he yelled at him.

Mako stopped and turned around facing Takato.

"Oh it's you. What do you want this time?"

"What was that? What did you do to that digimon's data?" Takato said with anger in his voice.

"It's not any of your business but if you must know it was just a job."

"A job?"

"Yeah. Destroy the digimon that threatens human life, load the data in a convenient little device, hand it over to my boss, and get a good amount of pay. That basically sums it up," he said with a smirk.

"That's not right. Digimon are living creatures, not things to be killed and bought for."

"Unlike your friend Rika, I know the value of each life, even digital life. But as we all know there are digimon who want to destroy us so we destroy them before they start killing us off. That's a tamer's job. Someone just wanted me to help get more information on these digimon and is willing to pay me. It's not a crime but if it is then you are doing it as well."

"It's still not right," Takato mumbled.

"Whatever. So, have you gotten rid of your partner yet?"

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not going to get rid of Guilmon. He's my friend and I won't let him be destroyed," said Takato as his anger rose.

"Look, I can't make you get rid of him. But right now you have but two options. Either you get rid of him or you start to control your emotions better. It's up to you."

"I can control my emotions just fine," he said trying to hide his anger.

Mako narrowed his eyes at Takato and said, "No you can't. You're a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. Unfortunately when you do explode, it will affect your partner, which is why he's dangerous. Your emotions affect him twice as much as it effects you."

"I won't do anything that will hurt Guilmon."

"Then control your anger…"

"I can control it."

"No you can't. You have more of a short temper than Rika does. If you know what's best for you…"

Takato didn't want to hear it. That's all he heard from Mako is lectures, as if he didn't get enough from his parents. His actions were unconsciously chosen as he suddenly swung his fist, which made impact with Mako's face. Mako fell to the ground with a surprised look on his face. Beelzemon growled at Takato who had a wild look in his eyes.

"You leave Mako alone," he said as he stepped forward.

"Beelzemon, stop. He's not worth it."

Mako stood up and spat out some spit and blood that had formed in his mouth. He stared at the wild look in Takato's eyes and then turned to walk away, ignoring the stinging pain in his cheek.

"Like I was saying, if you know what's best for you and your partner, you'll learn to control your emotions especially your anger. If you can't, then get rid of Guilmon but if you can't do that either than I suggest you stop being a tamer. If anyone's partners are destroyed, then I hope it's not because of Guilmon. Because if it is, the person it will effect the most won't be your friends whose partners Guilmon destroyed, but you. Just remember that."

Before Takato could say anything more, Mako walked away with Beelzemon giving one last death glare at Takato before following his tamer. Takato stood there for a second with anger still fuming inside of him but he finally moved on back toward his home. He was still mad when he got home but the wild looks in his eyes were gone now. He went to his room where Guilmon was waiting.

"Hey Takatomon! You're back," he said happily.

"Hey Guilmon," Takato said, trying not to sound aggravated.

He lay on his bed and sighed heavily as Guilmon rested his head beside him like a loyal dog. Takato petted his friend's head as he thought about Mako's words but quickly shoved them aside as his mom called him and Guilmon for dinner.

The next day, Takato was walking with Guilmon through the park and a couple of times they stopped because some little kids would want to pet him. Guilmon noticed his tamer's mood and wondered why he looked like that when it was such a nice day out.

"What's wrong, Takato?" he asked innocently.

"Nothing Guilmon. Just thinking about stuff," he said almost in a whisper.

As they walked, Takato spotted Henry and Terriermon up ahead. He started to smile as he walked towards the two.

'If anyone can brighten up my mood, it's my friends.'

"Hey guys!" Takato said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Hi Takato! Hi Guilmon!" said Henry as they approached them.

"What's up?" Takato asked.

"Oh the usual. No bioemerges, no excitement…" said Terriermon in a dull tone.

"No one telling me there was a meeting," said another voice.

"There wasn't a meeting but it's glad to see you, Rika," said Takato as he faced the girl.

Rika smiled as she walked up to them without Renamon in sight.

"So where's Renamon?" Henry asked.

She shrugged and said, "Who knows? She'll come when I want her to, though."

They walked together through the park, talking about nothing and everything. Around 1:00 in the afternoon, the hunger began.

"Can we get something to eat? I'm hungry," said Guilmon as he laid on the ground acting like he was in pain, which made Takato sweat drop.

"Don't answer this, but do you ever think about anything else than food?" Terriermon asked.

Guilmon sat up and said, "Sure lots of times..."

Takato breathed a sigh of relief to Guilmon's answer.

Guilmon suddenly raised his head and said, "But not when I'm this hungry!"

Everyone almost fell over and Takato said, "Guuuiiilmooon!"

"Let's get something to eat before Guilmon keels over," said Rika.

They all walked off to a fast food restaurant and ordered some cheeseburgers and fries with some drinks. As they sat and ate their food, they talked about what had been happening recently. Before they got to finish though, another bioemergence appeared.

"Looks like another digimon's here. Let's go," said Henry.

"Yea! Finally some action!" said Terriermon.

They all went into the digital field and were soon joined by the other tamers, not including Mako. As the fog cleared up some, a giant metallic bird came into view. It had a green body with a metal plate on its chest, metal claws, red wings, and a ghost's tail.

"Metamormon. Virus Type. Mega Level. This mutant's attacks are Laser Translation and Transcierave," said Ryo.

"Let's show this guy whose boss. Renamon," said Rika as Renamon appeared beside her.

Rika, Takato, Henry, Suzie, and Kazu all slashed a digivolution card in their D-Arc.

"Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!"

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION

"Guilmon matrix digivolve to…WarGrowlmon!"

"Renamon matrix digivolve to…Taomon!"

"Terriermon matrix digivolve to…Rapidmon!"

"Gaurdromon matrix digivolve to…Andromon!"

"Lopmon matrix digivolve to…Antylamon!"

"All right you bird brain. I have something for you! Rapid Fire!" said Rapidmon as he fired his missiles at him.

"Atomic Blasters!"

"Talisman of Light!"

"Bunny Blades!"

"Fist of the Beast King!"

"Gatling Attack!"

"Kahuna Waves!"

"Desolation Claw!"

The attacks all hit Metamormon with full force but he soon attacked back at the digimon.

"Laser Translation!" he said as a bunch of beams went from his body and randomly attacked the digimon.

The digimon groaned from the damage done to them but were still able to fight as they attacked Metamormon again. He took the full damage, which wasn't much as only a few scratches were seen on his metal body. As he was about to attack again, someone else joined in on the fun.

"Double Impact!"

The mutant bird shrieked as the bullets hit him and dented his metal body in some areas. The tamers turned around to see Mako coming into the digital field with his black jacket on.

"Thought you didn't want to help us," said Rika, smirking.

"I'm not here to help you. I'm only here for the data," he said.

"Data? We've never seen Beelzemon load any digimon's data before so why now?" asked Henry.

Before Mako could respond, Takato said, "That's not what he means."

"What? What are you saying Takato?" asked Jeri.

Takato could feel the anger rising in him again as he said, "I'm saying that this guy isn't having his digimon load the data of digimon, but rather he's using a device that loads a digimon's data. He then takes it and gives it to his 'boss', which he then gets paid for giving him the data."

"What kind of person are you?" asked Rika.

Mako glared at them and said, "It's a job. I can't tell you why I'm doing it and I can't tell you who's asking me to do it. Now then, I'm going to help you but not because I want to. I have to work for my prize."

Takato's anger kept rising as he said, "Why don't you fight some other battle where we don't have to see you doing such a disgusting thing? We don't need your help and we've never needed it."

"Why don't you just let me handle it and go learn to control yourself? You'd be better off doing that than fighting."

"You be quiet!" Takato yelled at Mako.

Everyone stared at Takato as the wild look in his eyes came back. Takato looked at Mako with the anger inside of him at its peak.

"We don't need you and we'll prove it!" shouted Takato as he turned to WarGrowlmon, holding up his D-Arc. "Let's show them WarGrowlmon! Let's show them what we're made of!"

WarGrowlmon's eyes suddenly had the same wild look in them as Takato's eyes had. Takato's D-Arc glowed a red and black light as the same energy circled around WarGrowlmon. Static of electricity shot out of the orb surrounding WarGrowlmon as the ground began to shake.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Beelzemon said as he could feel the hairs on his neck stand up.

Inside of the orb WarGrowlmon changed form and then the orb was suddenly swept aside as a new digimon stood in WarGrowlmon's place. Everyone gasped at this new creature that WarGrowlmon had become. He was a huge demonic dragon with red wings, a monster head with sharp teeth and foaming mouth, large black claws, and a serpent's tail. The only thing that seemed the same about all of his other evolutions was the hazard sign that stayed on his chest. This new digimon roared, which made everyone feel uneasy about the whole situation.

"Megidramon. Mega Level. Virus Type. His attacks are Megido Flame and Hell Howling," said Henry as he read off of the scanner.

Mako quickly pulled out the power-level reading gadget and placed it on his head. His eyes widened as he saw how much power Megidramon had.

"No! This is exactly what I didn't want to happen! He's too strong for us!" said Mako as he started to sweat.

"What? Are you serious?" asked Rika.

Mako nodded and said, "The ultimates are only ranging from 2000 to 3000."

"Well what if we digivolve to mega?" said Henry.

Mako sighed and said, "Unfortunately it won't help much. I already scanned your mega level forms. Henry's mega level is only 3500, Rika and Ryo's is 4000, Suzie's is 4500, and Beelzemon's is only 5000."

"How much is Megidramon's?" Kazu asked, knowing he would regret it.

Mako shakily said, "6000."

"What? Are you serious?" Rika asked, partially yelling at Mako.

"I wish I wasn't. That's why I was trying to help Takato, to tell him the dangers of his partner. But he chose not to listen, so now we are all going to regret it."

Megidramon looked at his foe and let out another terrifying roar, which shook everyone up. Takato looked at this new evolution and couldn't believe his eyes.

"That can't be Guilmon. Not the digimon I created. It just can't be," he said.

He dropped his red D-Arc as it fell to the pavement, cracked, and then finally dispersed into thin air.


	7. Friend or Foe?

**Chapter 7: Friend or Foe?**

They all stared at Megidramon as he roared another terrifying roar. Metamormon looked at this new digimon and wanted to destroy the digimon for its data, no matter what. He powered up as laser beams shot out from all over his body.

"Translation Laser!" he said as the laser beams attacked all over Megidramon's body.

Megidramon just stood there; taking the full effect of Metamormon's attacks not feeling any pain. Once Metamormon was finished, the demonic dragon started to laugh evilly as he wrapped his serpent's tail around Metamormon. Metamormon screeched and tried to break free of the digimon's grip, but his flailing only caused Megidramon to squeeze harder. Megidramon then kept gripping his tail tighter and tighter on the digimon mutant as he screamed and shrieked until his data dissolved into the air. Mako didn't even try to load the data of Metamormon, as he was too shocked by how easily Megidramon destroyed Metamormon. He then roared in triumph of his victory but he wanted more. More destruction, more victories was all that raced in his mind.

"What are we going to do?" Suzie asked trembling.

"The only thing we can do is to take out Megidramon. That's our only option," said Mako.

Takato then turned to face Mako and yelled, "Don't! You can't hurt Guilmon! He helped destroy Metamormon and he wouldn't harm anyone else…"

Before Takato could finish, Megidramon opened his mouth and said, "Megido Flame!" as a huge fire came from his mouth and attacked some nearby buildings. Everyone started to flee and scream in terror of the new monster that came upon their city.

"You were saying?" said Beelzemon.

Takato could only stare in disbelief as he said, "But…Guilmon…wouldn't hurt anyone. He would never…attack the city…"

Mako growled and said, "Are you blind as you are dumb? That's not your precious Guilmon. That's a monster! A monster who's only thought is to destroy everything in its path."

"No! I'll stop him!" said Takato as he ran up to Megidramon. "Guilmon, listen to me! Stop this! You already defeated Metamormon, there's no more reason for you to fight. You know that attacking innocent people is wrong, so stop."

Megidramon looked at Takato but not a single trace of his memory of Takato went through his mind. All he could focus on was destroying everything until he was satisfied and he wouldn't let one human get in the way.

"Megido Flame!"

"Takato! Look out!" said Mako as he ran towards him.

Takato could only stare in terror at the attack that was coming toward him. He closed his eyes, bracing for the impact when he suddenly felt something push him. Takato grunted as he hit the pavement and opened his eyes to see a burn mark where he was standing. He also saw that Mako had pushed him aside to avoid the attack that was going to hit him. Takato was in shock, not from almost being killed, but from his own partner attacking him. The partner that he had created four years ago, the one who he called his friend was now going to be his foe. Mako could clearly see the shock in his eyes but there was no time for sympathy.

"Guys! I know he's stronger than us but we might be able to beat him fighting together."

They all nodded as Henry, Rika, Suzie, and Ryo held up their glowing D-Arcs.

BIO-MERGE DIGIVOLUTION

"Bio-merge Activate!"

"Terriermon bio-merge to…MegaGargomon!"

"Renamon bio-merge to…Sakuyamon!"

"Cyberdramon bio-merge to…Justimon!"

"Lopmon bio-merge to…Cherubimon!"

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Kazu, referring to himself, Jeri, and Kenta.

"Just stay down. You're our last line of defense," said Mako, smiling at him.

"That's nice. Just don't get anyone killed, ok?"

"Don't worry. That lizard's going down!" said Terriermon.

"No time for talk. Let's get this over with," said Sakuyamon. "Spirit Strike!"

"Gargo Missiles!"

"Molten Blade!"

"Lighting Spear!"

"Double Impact!"

Megidramon roared in pain as the multiple attacks hit him. Takato could only watch as they attacked him, but he knew deep down that it had to be done, even if it meant losing Guilmon forever. Megidramon lashed out at the digimon with his flame attacks and his serpent tail flinging the digimon into the pavement and other buildings. The digimon quickly regained them and started to attack Megidramon again as he was hit repeatedly by the attacks but also gave a more powerful attack back at the others. Megidramon then flew up in the air and started to shoot flame out of his mouth, burning some of the city. The megas tried to stop him, but he just knocked them down again. He then wrapped his tail around the injured Beelzemon and started to squeeze him tight. Beelzemon tried to free himself but the dragon was too strong as he felt his air supply start to run out from the powerful grip.

"Beelzemon!" Mako shouted to his partner.

"Guilmon! Stop this!" Takato said as he tried to reach to his partner.

Megidramon roared as he opened his jaw, revealing sharp teeth and saliva, as he tried to bite down on the captured Beelzemon. Seeing this, Beelzemon quickly put his hands up, stopping the monster's mouth from going any further. He started struggling as Megidramon's acid saliva dropped onto him, trying not to be eaten by the dragon.

"Let him go, Guilmon! You can't do this! This isn't you. This isn't the digimon I created," Takato said.

"No. Beelzemon…" said Mako as he stared at the state his partner was in.

"Let him go! Mega Barrage!" said MegaGargomon as bullets flew from his body.

"Amthest Wind!" Sakuyamon said.

"Justice Burst!" Justimon yelled.

"Lightning Spear!" cried Cherubimon.

The attacks hit him and Megidramon was distracted enough for Beelzemon to escape. He quickly socked Megidramon in the face as he roared and let his grip on Beelzemon release. As they prepared to attack him again, Megidramon had other plans.

"Hell Howling!" he roared as an invisible force of energy hit the digimon.

The digimon were weakened badly and they de-digivolved back to their rookie forms, except for Beelzemon who was unconscious. Megidramon roared in his triumph against the ones who were once his friends. Kazu, Kenta, and Jeri went to see if the others were all right as Takato couldn't believe what his partner just did.

"Guilmon…"

Beelzemon came to and finally got to his feet as he stared at the demonic dragon. He looked around and saw that the other digimon had gone back to their rookie levels.

'We have to finish this now; otherwise that dragon will go on a rampage in the city. Guess I'm the only one left to fight…' Beelzemon thought to himself as he smirked.

"Ok you big dragon. It's just you and me now," he said stepping up to him.

Megidramon shot his flame and Beelzemon was able to jump it as he shot at him with his guns. He roared in pain as the bullets hit him but soon recovered as he kept attacking Beelzemon. Beelzemon tried to dodge his attacks but then one found its mark. A flame ball him in the chest, sending him into the concrete ground. Megidramon smirked as he brought his tail up and started whipping Beelzemon with it.

"Beelzemon!" Mako yelled, trying to get to his partner's aide.

"Mako stop!" Henry yelled as he grabbed Mako from behind.

Mako turned and saw that the rest of the tamers were up on their feet again and pulled away from Henry.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do. Beelzemon needs my help."

"But you would be in danger if you went there," Jeri said.

Mako clenched his fists and said, "I don't care. I can't lose him…"

"No one wants to lose their partners but our partners don't want to lose us either," Henry said, trying to reason with him.

"I already lost someone once to a monstrosity. I won't let it happen again!" he said running towards the battle.

"Mako!"

Megidramon stopped his attack and turned to see Mako running towards them. He roared as he let loose a fireball.

"Mako!" Beelzemon yelled, going to his tamer.

He saw the flame coming to him and was going to be hit when Beelzemon jumped in front of him. He quickly grabbed Mako and protected him with his body as the flame hit them. Beelzemon roared in pain and, once the attack was over, he slumped to the ground.

"Beelzemon…"

Mako kneeled beside his partner, fearing the worst. Suddenly he glowed brightly as he started to change form and shape. As soon as the light wore off, in Beelzemon's place was a small purple digimon with a white face, big ears, and an evil smiley on his chest, and wearing red gloves and handkerchief. (We all know who it is. -) Mako picked up his partner as he opened his eyes.

"I tried Mako," he said weakly.

"It's all right. As long as your safe, nothing else matters," Mako said with tears welling in his eyes.

"That's it! I'm sick of standing on the sidelines. I'm going to fight!" Kazu said.

"Kazu…you can't even go to mega," Kenta said.

"Look, Mako said that we're the last line of defense. I think that it would be good for us to step up to the plate."

"I don't know…"

"What about you, Jeri? Are you with me?" he asked turning towards Jeri.

"Ummm…I'm in if Leomon's in."

Leomon nodded and said, "I'm with you Jeri."

"Then let's go take him down. What do you say?"

Kenta finally gave in as they went into battle. Leomon digivovled to GrapLeomon and Gaurdramon digivolved into Andromon. They attacked the dragon but no damage really came to him. He just looked at them and attacked them.

"Hell Howling!"

An invisible force sent the digimon flying and de-digivolving them back to their previous forms.

"No, Gaurdramon!"

"This is awful," Jeri said.

Just as Megidramon was about to crush them, he suddenly let out a painful roar as he clenched his head with his claws.

"What's happening?" Henry asked.

Megidramon continued to roar and then a black mist surrounded him as he kept roaring. It covered him completely and soon his roars disappeared. Once the mist cleared, where Megidramon was standing was laying an unconscious Guilmon.

"Guilmon!" Takato said running to him.

He kneeled to his partner as Guilmon came to. Takato thought he had lost him forever as tears started to form. Tears formed in Guilmon's eyes as well as he realized what he did.

"Takato…I'm sorry."

"It's ok, boy. It's over now and I'm just glad you're all right."

"I didn't…kill anyone…did I?"

Takato shook his and smiled. "No you didn't."

They got up and looked at all the destruction around them. Suddenly they heard police sirens coming closer to their location.

"Let's go guys," said Henry.

"Hey Mako…" Kazu started to say but then looked around. "Where is he?"

The others looked around to see that he and his partner were gone. Deciding not to worry about them, they ran off to a safer location, as the sirens got closer. They ran all the way to Guilmon's Hideout and stayed there for a while until things cooled down. Once the sun started to set, they headed for home thinking about the day's events.


	8. A 'Friend' In Need

Hey it's me again! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Anyway, I hope u like this addition and please R&R.

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**Chapter 8: **

**A 'Friend' In Need**

As the sun was setting, Mako and Impmon, Beelzemon's rookie level, were walking towards home. Impmon had enough strength to walk home but he wouldn't be able to fight for a little bit. As they got closer to home, no one else was really on the street as it kept getting darker.

"You ok, Mako?" he asked, noticing his tamer's quiet behavior.

"Not really. I thought…I thought I almost lost you."

"We had to fight. I know that you don't want to lose anyone else, but neither do I."

Mako sighed and said, "You're right. We both lost someone…and I guess I was wallowing in my own losses and seeing how things are bad for me. Guess I need to remember about you too, huh?"

"Yeah. But we still have each other, right?"

"Right," he said, smiling a bit.

Mako unlocked the front door and entered in the third floor apartment. He switched on some lights while Impmon went into the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat. On the counter, Mako saw that the answering machine had a message on it. He pressed the play button.

"You have one new message," said the electronic voice.

A woman's voice appeared as Mako listened to it.

"Hey Mako. It's mom. Listen, I'm going out of town for a while and your father is still in Kyoto. I went shopping and got some more food but there's money in the jar if you need it. I love you. Bye."

"Message recorded at 4:25 P.M. on Wednesday, October 4."

Mako then hit the delete button on the answering machine.

"Message deleted. No messages are recorded."

Mako sighed as he knew that the apartment was all to himself and Impmon. His parents had been very busy the past few years, but Mako probably knew what the reason was. He turned on the TV as he heard Impmon getting out some dishes for dinner.

'At least Impmon doesn't have to stay hidden from my parents. Still, it's lonely without them.'

He looked at the gadgets on the small dining table in the center of the room that his 'boss' had given him.

'I wonder. If I give them a chance…maybe they won't leave me.'

Impmon came out with two bowls of ramen and looked at Mako curiously. Mako smiled and accepted one of the bowls as the news started to come on. They both sat down and watched the latest news reports.

"Today a strange occurrence happened in West Shinjuku," said a woman. "From what witnesses saw, the government believes it was another digimon attack that could've caused massive chaos in the city. Many people were injured but there seems to be no deaths reported. Coming up…America's plans for war. But first, a word from our sponsors."

Mako muted the TV as the commercials came on, not caring to hear TV ads. Both of them put their bowls in the dishwasher and then sat down again to watch some more TV. After a while, Mako got up.

"I'm…going to take a shower."

"Ok," Impmon said, changing the channel.

Takato walked down the sidewalk with Guilmon towards the bakery. They ignored some of the strange looks from people and didn't really care what they thought.

"Are you ok, Guilmon?" Takato asked his partner.

"Yeah. I'm sorry for what I did."

"It's not your fault boy."

"It's not?" he asked, puzzled.

"No…it's not."

'It's his fault. If he hadn't….I guess he was right about my anger. But still…' Takato thought to himself as they approached the bakery.

Mako sighed as he let the water fall onto his hair and drip downwards. He thought about the recent events and more about when they helped him and Impmon when they needed it.

'Maybe I should give them a chance. Impmon seems to want to…and they may not leave,' he thought. 'But there's still forgiveness…I need to get…especially from Takato.'

He sighed as he cupped his hands so he could get some water and then splashed it on his face. But there was still something he needed to do. He turned off the shower, wrapped a towel around himself, and went to his room. After he got dressed, he glanced at the picture on his dresser but then walked out of his room without looking at it anymore.

One week later

Mako walked down the sidewalk as Impmon walked on a division wall beside him. He wasn't sure what to do next. He had talked to his boss and he said to do whatever he wanted. It was his decision.

"It might be better if you had allies," the man said in the car.

Mako looked down and said, "I know. I'm still deciding on that."

"Well, doesn't matter to me. You got the information I wanted."

Mako nodded, still gazing at the ground.

"Just be careful. You know that she's still out there."

He looked at him and said, "I know. Should I…try to talk to her?"

"You can. Or just leave her be. I'm sure she's fine. After all, it has been four years since the incident."

"Yes. I hope so."

"Just remember it's your decision."

As Mako continued walking down the sidewalk, he thought, 'I know it's my decision. But what **should** I do?'

Impmon watched his tamer below him and knew he was thinking about things. He knew that Mako wanted to try to have allies and it was probably for the best. But he had to decide for that himself. As they continued walking, a blue van started to drive by them, becoming slower as it neared them. Neither of them noticed the van as it stopped and five muscular men in black coats and sunglasses stepped out. They quietly came up behind them and Mako was the first to notice them. He turned around just as one of them started to throw a punch. Mako dodged it and kicked the man, which threw him back towards the other guys.

"Mako!" Impmon said.

"Run Impmon!" he told his partner.

Both of them took off as the man that Mako kicked got up and they followed them. They tried losing them by running into the alleyways but unfortunately they stayed with them. Mako and Impmon ran out of the alleyways and started to head down the street when one of the men grabbed Mako from behind between two buildings. Impmon looked back and saw he needed help.

"Mako, hang on!" he said.

He lit a fireball on his fingers and said, "Bada Boom!"

It hit the man as he screamed in pain but kept his hold on Mako as he tried to get loose. Impmon decided to try another attack of fireballs but then one of the men came behind him with a pipe.

"Impmon look out!"

He turned around just as the pipe hit his head. He fell to the concrete, unconscious, as Mako struggled to get free. Then another man put a cloth over Mako's face as he tried to get free. Soon his vision was hazy and then…he blacked out.

Impmon groaned as he started to come to. His head was throbbing and his vision was blurry as he continued to lie on the concrete. At first he didn't know what had happened, but soon reality sunk in. He carefully got up and saw that the blue van was gone as well as Mako.

'Mako…'

He shakily stood up as he tried to figure out where they went. He went to the place where the van was parked but saw nothing to help him. Then, something in the gutter caught his eye. He looked down and saw Mako's black D-Arc as he picked it up. Tears started to form in his eyes but he quickly wiped them away as he stowed it in his bandanna. He quickly ran to where he thought the tamers might be.

'I need help…and only they can help me. I hope they will. I don't want to lose Mako forever.'

He kept running as he reached the park and then found the old shed that he had always seen the tamers at. He looked in and around there but didn't see them. Impmon didn't lose hope as he quickly ran from there and started to search the park. He suddenly heard voices and ran towards the source of the sound. On another sidewalk trail were the tamers or most of them. The only ones that were missing were Suzie, Ryo, Kenta, Kazu, and their partners. He quickly ran their way through the grass, hoping that they could help.

"Hey, it's Mako's partner," Terriermon said.

They all looked as Impmon came near them and tried to catch his breath from running so much.

"Please…help me," he tried to say.

"What's wrong?" Jeri asked.

"Mako…he's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean…'gone'?" Rika asked.

"They…took him. Some men…came and took him. I…need help. Please…help me," he said looking at them.

"Why should we?" Takato asked.

Everyone looked at him, surprised at his tone of voice.

"Why should we help him? He's done nothing for us and all he does is treat us badly. Whatever Mako's done, it's not our problem."

Impmon looked at him and said, "He's…done nothing. We don't know who they are."

"Well we're not helping," he said as he started to walk away.

"Wait…please," Impmon said as he stepped forward.

Once he did, though, he suddenly felt dizzy and the dizziness made him feel sick. He groaned as he went to the ground trying to stop it. Even though his tamer had pushed Takato to making Guilmon digivolve to Megidramon, Guilmon still felt sorry for him. He then noticed something as Impmon sat there. He came closer and saw the deep wound on the side of his head where the pipe hit.

"Takato!"

"Come on Guilmon. Let's go."

"But Takato…he's hurt."

Takato hesitated but then went up to him to see the huge gash in his head. Even though he disliked Mako, he could never leave a hurt digimon alone.

"Stay here with him. I'll go home and get my first aid kit," he said running off.

Impmon was still very dizzy as the others came around him and laid him down so he could recover. By the time Takato got back, Impmon was no longer dizzy but stayed down as Takato cleaned the wound and then bandaged his head. Impmon carefully sat up and looked at Takato.

"Why did you help me?" Impmon asked.

"Because you needed it. I couldn't just leave you, knowing that something bad could happen to you."

"Can't you do the same for Mako?"

Takato looked at him as Impmon continued.

"I know Mako has probably hurt you and he knows that. He didn't mean to…but now he could be hurt somewhere and I need your help. If you don't help me and I never find him…then I could never forgive myself. I already lost someone once before…and I can't go through that again. Please…help us."

Takato looked into his pleading eyes and knew that he was only talking to him, no one else. He sighed as he stood up and made his decision.

"All right. Where did they get him?"

Impmon smiled as he tried to stand up. However, the dizziness came back as his head was severely injured. Guilmon allowed him to ride on his back as they went to the place where the van was.

"It was here and…" Impmon pulled out the black D-Arc. "…this was left behind."

Takato looked around and then had an idea.

"Guilmon…sniff the D-Arc for Mako's scent."

He sniffed it and, like a dog, sniffed the area and picked up his scent. They followed it as they were led towards a deserted area.

Mako groaned as he started to come back into consciousness. There was someone standing in front of him but his vision was still blurry as he started to make it become clearer. Once his vision was back, he recognized the person standing a few feet away from him and he saw that he was tied up to a pole. It was a girl a little older than him with light blonde hair in pigtails, pale blue eyes, and wore a black shirt and skirt with a cross necklace on her. She smiled as he looked at her.

"Welcome back…Mako."

"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded.

"You should know. You were one of the tamers that helped a bit to destroy the D-Reaper. It was very noble…but I also know there was a cost."

"Shut up! You hardly know me, Alice."

"I know more about you then you know. I also know that you only rely on yourself instead of letting others help you."

"I was wrong to do that. I now know that I do need allies."

"A little too late for that, isn't it?"

Mako looked at Alice and said, "Why am I here?"

She smiled and said, "My master wanted me to bring you here. It's very interested in you as well as the tamers."

"What master?"

Alice came closer as Mako felt an odd presence nearby.

"The master that is here to save this world. It wanted me to bring you because four years ago you and your digimon brought it great pain. It wants payback."

"I don't even know your master!"

Her eyes started to glow a somewhat dark pink as she said, "Oh…but you do."

Mako's eyes widened as he realized what she was talking about. He started to shudder, as he knew what it was. Alice smiled.

"I see you've figured it out."

"But why, Alice? Why are you with it? It caused you pain as well as me."

"Alice…you keep calling me that. Why do humans even bother with such things?"

Mako chuckled and said, "So…you're in control. That's all right. Makes it easier for me to believe you."

"Yes…but the real fun's just beginning."

They kept going as they were being led to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. Impmon was still riding on Guilmon's back as he sensed Mako nearby.

"He's in there," he said, pointing to the warehouse.

"Ok guys. Be ready for anything," Takato said.

They went in to find Mako tied to a pole and Alice not standing too far off. Both of them turned towards the tamers as they entered.

"Well, I thought you didn't have friends," Alice said.

"Mako…" Impmon said.

He smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm all right."

"Alice? Is that you?" Henry asked.

"Why are you here?" Takato asked.

"My master has asked me to bring him here. You shall not interfere."

"Alice it's us. The tamers. You were on our side four years ago with Dobermon," Henry said.

"Yes, but things have…changed."

Suddenly, a bunch of men in black coats and sunglasses emerged from nowhere in front of the tamers. Impmon was still hurt, so he couldn't fight as Guilmon gently put him down.

"Destroy them," Alice said.

They started to charge, as the digimon were ready to attack.

"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon said, throwing flame balls at them.

"Diamond Storm!" said Renamon as she hit them with her attacks.

"Terrier Tornado!" said Terriermon as he blew some of them upwards with his tornado attack.

"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon said as his attack hit them.

As some of the men landed, they heard crashing and crunching but it wasn't bones. They looked at whatever men they attacked and saw that they weren't men at all.

"Hey look. They're just robots," Jeri said.

The tamers saw some of the machinery parts scattered places, as the robots they took down remained motionless. There were still others that were coming after them.

"Well that's good. Now we can take them down easy," Takato said. He took out a card while looking at Guilmon. "Ready boy?"

"Mmmhmm," he said.

"Digi-Modify! Digivolution Activate!"

DIGIVOLUTION

"Guilmon digivolve to…Growlmon!"

"Now its our turn," said Henry.

Both him and Rika took out their cards and slashed them.

"Digi-Modify! Digivolution Activate!"

DIGIVOLUTION

"Terriermon digivolve to…Gargomon!"

"Renamon digivolve to…Kyuubimon!"

The four champion level digimon attacked the army of robots and won handily. Alice watched the whole thing with amusement and, once all of the robots were destroyed, decided it was time to go.

"Very good. I should never underestimate you. We shall meet again, so don't worry."

She suddenly threw a smoke ball down that gave her time to escape from the warehouse. The three champions went to their rookie forms as Impmon untied the ropes from Mako. As soon as he was free, Impmon hugged his tamer.

"I thought I lost you," he said.

Mako hugged him back and then they parted as he said, "Don't worry, we have each other."

Impmon nodded as they walked outside with the other tamers. Takato and Mako looked at each other before Mako spoke.

"Listen…thanks. If it wasn't for you, I probably would still be here tied up."

"You're welcome, but it was really your partner who convinced me," Takato said.

Mako nodded and said, "I'm also…sorry for what I did. I've been acting like a jerk and that really isn't who I am. I've been…afraid to make friends for a while. I know you probably hate me so…can we just be allies instead of friends?"

Takato looked at him and said, "Sure. Allies."

They started to walk away when Terriermon shouted, "Hey! Mako's partner! What's your rookie name, anyway?"

The small rookie looked at them and said, "Name's Impmon."

"Ok. See you around," Terriermon said.

They walked away as the tamers looked back to them and soon went home as well.


	9. The Man Behind The Mask

Yes! Finally I have the ninth chapter up and the tenth one is on its way! Hope you like this one and sorry if it's kinda rushed.

* * *

**Chapter 9: **

**The Man Behind The Mask**

"What! Are you serious!" Suzie yelled.

Henry held up his hands and said, "Relax Suzie. It seems like he really has changed. Just give him a chance, ok? Takato has…"

"I don't care! Takato can do what he wants. But I won't trust Mako ever again, even if he saves me from a pit of poisonous snakes!"

Henry sighed at his sister as she left Henry's room to her room. He thought it would be a good thing to tell her that Mako had become an ally, but it seemed that she wouldn't agree with it. Terriermon came out from under Henry's bed, where he had retreated to after Suzie started to yell.

"Well that couldn't gone better, don't ya think?" he asked.

"I thought it would be nice to tell Suzie and that she might actually consider to agree with it. But I guess not."

"I didn't think she could yell so loud. Man!"

Suzie was fuming in her room as she lay on her bed, thinking about what her brother had told her. Lopmon went to Henry's room, knowing that Suzie needed some alone time.

'I can't believe they actually agreed to be allies with Mako.'

She thought back to the battle and what had happened. She also remembered the vow she silently made to herself.

"_I thought I could trust you Mako. I thought you were just like us. But I guess I was wrong…"_

_She ripped the card in half and let the two halves fall to the ground._

"I'll never trust you again…" 

Deciding not to think about Mako anymore, she turned off her light and went to bed.

A pink blob obscured his vision as the ground rumbled beneath him. Blasts from Beelzemon and the enemy were heard as the thing attempted to destroy everything. Shouting was heard and then a blood-curdling scream rose above it all…

Mako jolted awake, breathing hard as his heart beat fast. Trying to control his heavy breathing, he looked at the clock.

1:30 A.M.

He looked beside him to see Impmon still sleeping.

'He can sleep through anything…'

Lying back down, he thought about his dream and almost cried. Wiping away the forming tears, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep. He didn't dream of it again, but the dream remained etched in his memory.

Henry could distantly hear the phone ringing, which meant he was starting to wake up. The ringing stopped after a bit and he heard voices. Suddenly, something poked him in the shoulder, and then on the face, and then on his stomach, which jolted him awake.

"Terriermon…why did you wake me up?" he asked groggily.

Terriermon held the phone up to Henry and said, "Takato's on the phone."

Sighing, he took the phone from his partner's hands and said, "Hello?"

"Hey Henry. Did I wake you?"

"No. Terriermon did. What's up?"

"I was thinking…maybe we should go see Mako. Maybe he can answer why he's been doing the things he's been doing. You know?"

"Yeah. I was thinking the same thing except…"

He looked out the door and saw that Suzie was in the family room watching TV.

"Except what, Henry?" Takato asked.

"Well, Suzie didn't take it so well when I told her."

"I kinda know how she feels. I'm still trying to trust Mako and this might be something that can build up my trust. Bring her along."

"If you say so. Bye."

"Bye, Henry."

After he hung up, Suzie came into the room with Lopmon.

"Who was that?"

"Takato. He wants us to meet up and talk to…Mako."

"Why?"

"Just to get some answers…that's all. You get to come too."

She crossed her arms and growled at the thought. "What if I don't want to?"

"Ah…geez."

He got out of bed and told Suzie, Terriermon, and Lopmon to leave while he got dressed. After he put on his orange shirt and pants, he went out into the family room where Suzie was sitting on the couch with Terriermon and Lopmon.

"Come on Suzie. Just come with us," Henry pleaded.

After a few moments of silence, she responded, "Fine."

They both walked outside into the cool air. Fall was starting to set in so they brought a light jacket. Their partners on their shoulder, they walked to the hangout in the park where everyone would meet and then they would head to Mako's house. When they got there, everyone was already there. Calumon was there as well because he thought that making a new friend was fun and wanted to see him. Takato had gotten Mako's address out of the school directory and he led them to an apartment complex. They went to the third floor and rang the doorbell.

When no one answered, he said, "I guess he isn't home."

"Should we try again later?" Kazu asked.

"Yeah. Let's go."

As they walked back, Rika spotted him at a street corner talking to someone in a black car with Impmon standing not too far off.

"Hey guys. There's our missing guy."

"I knew that he didn't really want to be friends with us. He's talking to that…guy," Suzie said.

"Why don't we ask Mako what's going on?" Henry suggested.

Everyone agreed as they headed towards them. Impmon was the first to see them as he watched them come over.

"Hey Mako! The others are here."

He stopped talking to the man in the car and turned to see the Tamers. They looked at him with confusion and wondered if Suzie was right about him. Mako approached them and said, "What's up?"

"That's kinda what we were wondering. What are you doing?" Takato said.

"Just talking to, what you call, my boss," he said pointing out the car.

"What? I thought you were done with that!" Terriermon said.

"I never said that. Besides, I'm not against you and neither is he."

As soon as he said that, the man in the car opened the door and stepped out. He was a man in his mid-thirties, had short brown hair, and dark gray eyes. He was dressed in a black business suit as he approached the group.

"Who're you?" Kazu asked.

The man smiled and said, "Hello. My name is Mr. Koto. I assume you are the other tamers Mako was telling me about."

"Mako told you about us?" Kenta said.

"Yes. Of course, I had to know who you were in order to figure out the information on yourselves and your digimon. I must say, I'm quite impressed with your battling."

"So that's what that device was for," Suzie said.

"Yes," Mako said. "But it was to help Mr. Koto here to determine whether or not you can help us and how strong you've become over the past four years."

"I see. Now it all makes sense…but I still don't understand the loading of data in that other device of yours," said Henry.

"I'll explain," said Mr. Koto. "You see, we had to get an efficient sample of a regular digimon's data in order to create what we are trying to make to help in defeating the enemy that is coming to our world."

"What kind of enemy?" Jeri asked.

"That can all be explained, if you'll come with me."

They finally all agreed as they were taken to the headquarters that Mr. Koto worked in. A couple of the digimon followed the car in order to save room for the others. Once they got there, the place they arrived in was a tall, twin tower building.

"This place…looks familiar," Takato said.

Before they could figure it out, they entered inside where they went past some heavy security and went into the elevator to the tenth floor.

"So…what exactly is coming to our world?" Henry asked.

"All will be told in due time," said Mr. Koto.

"Well that's annoying," Terriermon said.

Lopmon smirked and said, "Like you?"

"Oh…can it!"

As the doors to the elevator opened, Mr. Koto lead them through a hallway of doors until they came to the one at the very end. As he typed in the password and had his finger scanned for identification, they entered through a set of doors until they at last came to a dark lighted room with monitors and screens all over the place, not to mention wires and people in white suits walking around as they analyzed what were on the screens.

"Well, I see you finally arrived," someone said beside them.

Takato turned and said, "Who's…"

"Hey it's just me. You do remember me…" Yamaki approached them with a smirk on his face. "…don't you?"

"Yamaki!" everyone exclaimed except for Mako, Impmon, and Mr. Koto.

Over the past four years, Yamaki hadn't changed much. He still had his sunglasses, but he took them off more often, and the lighter that he repeatedly clicked when nervous. His hair, however, had gotten a bit shorter but it was in the same style.

"It's been a while."

"Yeah, it has," Takato said.

"It's nice to see you again, Mr. Yamaki," Jeri greeted.

"As well as you."

Rika turned towards Mako and said, "You've been working with Yamaki this whole time?"

"Well…Mr. Koto here is an employee of Mr. Yamaki. Yamaki did suggest all of the things that he wanted me to do."

"Really?" Suzie asked.

"Yes. Follow me, I have something to show you…" Yamaki said.

They all followed Yamaki to one of the larger monitors and typed in some passwords and clicked on files to get to where he wanted.

"Ok. Everyone watch the monitor…"

All eyes were on the big screen as a picture of the Digital World came on. It looked normal enough, with the sand blowing across the ground and data packets tumbling around. Over the past four years, the Monster Makers had help rebuild the world from what destruction the D-Reaper caused.

"Now this is a picture of the Digital World we captured a few weeks ago. It looks normal enough but then we received this picture a couple of days ago…"

It suddenly switched to another picture, making everyone gasp. The entire ground was now black and the wind tumbled it around like ashes as the rock formations that were once there were completely gone.

"Something attacked the Digital World not too long ago…and we were able to put a lock on what was doing this. We watched it…but unfortunately it's been moving rapidly to our world. There's nothing we can do to stop it…except let it come into our world."

"Don't worry!" Kazu exclaimed. "We'll take care of that digimon and make it wish it never came to our world in the first place!"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple…" Mako said.

"What do you mean, Mako?" Kenta asked.

"What we're going against…is not a digimon."

"Not a digimon? Your crazy! What else could it be?" Terriermon said.

"You won't believe this but…" he looked at them with nervousness in his eyes. "It's come back…the D-Reaper's come back to get us."


	10. Source of My Pain

Guess who's back from the dead? Yep, it's me! I just got so fed up with my writer's block, that I decided to stop for a while until I knew I could keep updating again. So, I hope you like this new addition and, yes, I will update my other stories. The stories that have been put on hold are active again! Also, I did update a new chapter on Digimon: The Lost Episodes, so if you haven't checked it out yet, please do so. So please, R&R away and happy reading to ya!

**Chapter 10:**

**Source of My Pain**

The tamers were all in the park, enjoying the peace while it lasted. Plans were being made on how to execute the city before the D-Reaper came and started its destruction. Yet, deep down, everyone knew that sooner or later, the D-Reaper would spread around the world and create chaos everywhere. But they knew that it was better to get people away from the danger that they knew was coming, instead of just let it happen. Most of the digimon were playing in the water and some of the tamers joined in. Mako sat alone under a tree, enjoying the weather. Suzie looked over at him and then quietly made her way over.

"Mako?" she asked quietly. "Is it all right….if I sit with you?"

Without looking at her, he nodded. Sitting down with him, she looked in his direction at the setting sun. Both of them sat there awhile, not talking or looking at each other.

Finally Suzie turned toward him. "Mako?"

He looked at her with a curious look in his eyes. "What is it?"

"I…I…" Her face started to turn red as she managed to get the words out. "I'm…sorry."

Puzzled, he asked, "What are you sorry for?"

"For being an idiot. I never should have thought badly of you, even though you were acting strange. Could you forgive me? If not……I'll understand…"

Mako placed his hand over hers, causing her to look up into his eyes. "I forgive you, Suzie. If you'll forgive me for being an idiot as well."

For some reason unknown, not controlling her actions, she suddenly embraced him in a hug as drips of tears moved down her face. Mako was surprised by the sudden emotion and just froze, staring at her.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

After a few seconds, realizing what she was doing, she let go of him quickly and started to wipe her eyes. Mako kept staring at her, wondering what else she was going to do.

"Sorry…for doing that…" she said.

"It's ok."

Suzie looked at him, wondering if it really was ok. But Mako just stared at her with a blank expression on his face. She couldn't tell what he was feeling or if he just didn't care. Sighing, she got up and went back to the others. He watched her the whole time until she sat down again and then averted his attention back to the dipping sun.

**One Month Later**

The city streets of Shinjuku and some other regions nearby were all deserted. No sounds were made except the wind picking up pieces of trash…and the rumbling of the D-Reaper. It didn't take long for the huge mass to bio-emerge into the Real World, but they had enough time to execute the people of Shinjuku. Some places near Shinjuku also got executed, just for their safety. Right now, the D-Reaper had stayed in that part of Tokyo and hadn't moved. But everyone was ready for it to start spreading itself.

"How's everything going?" Takato asked Henry, who was watching the news on the D-Reaper.

"Not much. Just saying the same things over and over again. Nothing's new happened yet."

The tamers all stayed with their families in a nice hotel in Shibuya. Since the D-Reaper was only affecting certain parts of Shinjuku, Shibuya seemed like a good enough place to stay until they had to move again because of the D-Reaper. Mako was the only one who wasn't staying with his family. Yamaki had managed to get a hold of them and told them of what was happening, so they wouldn't suddenly come home. It wasn't likely, though. His parents were both on extensive business trips, so they wouldn't be coming home anytime soon.

"Why don't we just go attack it before it evolves or gets even stronger?" Kazu asked.

"We don't have a battle plan, so it would be useless to just leap into battle," Henry said.

"But we fought it the last time without a plan."

"That's because we didn't know anything about it," Rika said. "Now we have an idea of what it's capable of."

"Yeah, but what happens if we lose everything? We have to fight it before it gets to us!"

Even though Kazu was determined, the others were still unsure. They didn't know what it was doing or what could happen. Sure, it would cause a lot of damage but they didn't want to put anyone's lives in danger.

"I think Kazu's right."

Everyone turned and looked at Mako in disbelief.

"What are you saying?" Takato said.

Mako looked at them and sighed. "I'm saying that we should be out there fighting it instead of sitting here waiting for something to happen. Kazu's right. It's time for action, even if our enemy isn't attacking us. We know what it can do and what to expect, so let's just go. Besides, we'll be together for the most part and if things get too bad we'll get out of there."

Everyone wasn't sure about what they should do. Fighting was a necessity in order to save two worlds, but they didn't want to do anything to hasty.

"I'm with ya, Mako," Impmon said, breaking the silence.

Kazu walked over and stood beside him with Gaurdramon following. "I am too, dude. Thanks for backing me."

"No problem," he said.

The rest of them just stood there, deciding what to do. Then, Suzie walked up and stood on Mako's other side with Lopmon on her shoulder.

"Count me in."

"But Suzie…this is dangerous!" Henry told his sister.

"I know that! But I think Mako and Kazu are right. It's time to fight and stop the D-Reaper before it stops us!"

"And no matter what, I'm with Suzie! It's my job to protect her!" Lopmon said.

Henry just stared in disbelief at his sister. He didn't want her to get hurt and it was his duty as a big brother to protect her.

"Well…" Kenta said. "I guess I'll go too."

He walked over to the small forming group and stood beside Kazu.

"All right Kenta!" Kazu said.

"Hey, I wouldn't do anything cool without you around. Besides we know that the D-Reaper didn't like MarineAngemon's bubbles the last time, so that's an advantage."

"Yeah!" MarineAngemon squeaked.

Jeri and Leomon then went beside them after Kenta.

"Jeri…" Takato started.

"It's ok. I know the D-Reaper won't get me again because I'm past all of that now. I have something new in me that wasn't there before and I know I can help in defeating the D-Reaper."

"I'm going too," Ryo said. "Someone's gotta stop it before it's too late and I agree that this is the perfect time to do it."

As he stood by them, Kazu and Kenta grinned at him. "He's so awesome."

"You're all crazy!" Rika yelled. Then she walked to them. "But I guess a little action wouldn't hurt. Besides, I'm the only one who can keep all of you from getting mauled by our enemies."

"Whatever!" exclaimed Kazu and Kenta.

"OK!" said Takato, walking over to them. "After all, we're a team. We do this together."

Henry sighed, but walked over to them. "You've convinced me. Besides, I need to protect Suzie and even though I don't like it, Mako and Kazu are right. We have to stop it."

"Wow, Kazu actually convinced all of us that he's right! Then the world must be ending!"

"Can it, Rika!" Kazu yelled as everyone else laughed at what she said.

"Takato…" a soft voice said.

They all turned around to see their parents standing in the room with them. From their worried looks, they had heard of their plan.

"Mom…" Takato knew they would be worried, but they had gotten out of this mess before. "I know you're worried, but we can do this. We're a lot older now and we have a lot more experience. And besides, we know what to expect."

"It doesn't matter how old you get," his mom said. "You're still my little boy, Takato. I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"And besides, this thing, D-Reaper or whatever, caused a lot of damage the last time. How do we know we won't lose you?" Mr. Akiyama asked.

Mako then stepped forward in front of all the worried parents. "We know the risk, but we're not just doing this for us or for both worlds…we're also doing it to protect our families and loved ones. If we don't start now, will there be a chance to stop it when it gets out of hand? We want you to trust that we know what we're doing…and that we can stop this. I should know……I've felt the pain of loss before. That's why…I'm determined to not let anyone fall behind or get into things way too deep. I'd rather risk my own life than theirs……but I need their help too. After all…" Mako looked back at the others. "…we are a team."

"Just be careful, ok?" Mr. Matsuki said.

Takato nodded. "Don't worry. We will be."

Then all of them ran out the door, ready to face whatever the D-Reaper had up its sleeve.

_Darkness…sadness…revenge…the dark parts of these humans' hearts are undeniable. I can sense it in their souls. All of them must be deleted…for good…_

All of them arrived in their mega forms towards the D-Reaper. MegaGargomon had Beelzemon and Mako on its shoulder, since Beelzemon couldn't fly and they didn't merge together like the others did. Kenta and Kazu rode on Gaurdramon on the way here with MarineAngemon in Kenta's pocket. The huge blob rumbled and the heat was powerful from it.

"It doesn't look any different than the last time," Gallantmon said.

"I don't see any agents or anything. Do you?" Henry questioned.

"No, I don't. I thought there would be some around, though," Rika said.

"Then we better be ready for anything," Takato said.

Beelzemon hopped down from MegaGargomon with Mako in his arms and set him down once on the ground. Mako looked at the D-Reaper, watching it.

_Mako…_

Mako turned around suddenly, his eyes wide. He thought he heard his name being called…and he could almost swear he had recognized the voice.

"What is it?" Beelzemon wondered.

Mako turned back around. "Nothing. I thought I heard something."

"So what should we do?" Kazu asked.

"Should we split up and check around the area?" Jeri asked.

"I think that'll work. We'll each go in pairs, ok?" Henry suggested.

They all agreed on it. The pairs were divided and they were Kazu and Kenta, Mako and Takato, Rika and Jeri, and since it was an odd number, Henry, Suzie, and Ryo all went together. They started going around in different areas but they weren't too far away from each other.

"What do you think it's planning?" Mako asked.

"I'm not sure. I thought there would be something more to it," Gallantmon responded.

A blob of the D-Reaper rolled out and stopped by Mako's foot, jiggling like a piece of Jell-O. Beelzemon stared at the D-Reaper, wondering what it was going to do next.

_Mako…_

Mako flinched at the sound of his name being called again. It sounded closer this time and he couldn't tell if it was coming from the D-Reaper, or somewhere else. Both Gallantmon and Beelzemon noticed his change in behavior.

"Mako? What is it? Did you…hear something…?" Gallantmon asked.

Mako turned to look at them. "No…but I thought I did…"

Suddenly a red chord sprang out from the D-Reaper and wrapped itself around Mako, causing him to shout out in surprise. Before they could do anything, the chord lifted Mako into the air and pulled him into the D-Reaper.

"Mako!" Beelzemon yelled, running towards the D-Reaper. As he ran to it, a slimy looking tube poked out of it and blasted Beelzemon with an energy blast. He flew back and landed on the pavement.

"Oh no!" Gallantmon gasped. "The D-Reaper……it's coming alive!"

Hundreds of red chords suddenly wiggled out from the blob all over the place. They looked like streamers blowing in the wind, only these streamers could attack. So far, that's all the D-Reaper sprouted out of it.

Mako groaned as he opened his eyes. He found himself lying on the sidewalk and wondered if it was all a dream. A look around, though, proved that to be false. The D-Reaper was everywhere and it looked like he was in the park from the looks of the trees and grass. Standing up, he started to walk down the sidewalk so he could find a way to get out of here.

_Mako…_

He stopped suddenly, aware that whatever had been calling his name, was here. He knew it was close by, yet it sent shivers up his spine because a sixth sense told him that something about the voice was not human. When he didn't hear it again, he started to walk down the sidewalk. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw something run past behind the trees. He turned towards where he heard it and searched for it.

"Come out! Show yourself!" he yelled.

"Mako…Mako…I…need you…Please…"

Mako froze, his eyes wide and sweat starting to trickle down his neck. The voice was familiar, too familiar, that he thought he mistaken it for someone else. A face popped in his mind and as he slowly turned around, he hoped to not see that face. He turned around fully and gasped at what he saw.

"Please…help me…Mako…"

A little girl with red-brown hair was behind him, her dress tattered and torn around the edges, but it was her eyes that caught his attention. Those dark eyes that were pulling him in, sucking out his soul.

"No…" he whispered.

The little girl started to walk toward him, her right arm outstretched. Mako couldn't move as he stared at her coming closer. Her right arm started to crack and break apart like fine china, turning into a red claw.

"Mako…"

Mako backed up but tripped and fell over as she got closer and closer. Tears started to trickle down his cheek as he stared into her eyes.

"No…no…NO! This…isn't real!" he screamed.

"Mako…please…won't you play with me?"

The girl got closer, her right arm that turned into a red claw getting even closer to his body.

"NO! Please stop!" he screamed in terror. "Please…Ai…stop!"


	11. Come Back To Me

**Chapter 11:**

**Come Back To Me**

"A…Ai…please….no…."

Mako suddenly felt darkness creep around him, the D-Reaper agent disappearing before him, and his mind go numb as memories started to form again in his mind.

_Darkness…loneliness…these will become the humans' ultimate doom._

Mako opened his eyes to see himself in the backyard of his old house. It was sunny out and he was laying under the tree. The wind blew gently giving his body relief from some of the heat. He sat up and looked around, seeing nothing except the puppy sleeping in the doghouse. He then noticed he was wearing different clothes and that he was eight years old again. Standing up, he looked around and then saw someone step out of the sliding door. His breathing stopped and he swore his heart froze.

Stepping out into the backyard was Ai, with Impmon right behind her. Her hair was in long pigtails and she was wearing a blue dress. She looked at Mako with a worried expression.

"You ok, Mako?" she asked.

Mako exhaled and looked at her, smiling. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"That's good. You wanna play tag with me and Impmon?"

"Sure. Why not?"

* * *

The red chords started firing energy everywhere at all the digimon. Gallantmon brandished his shield, blocking some of the attacks. However, Beelzemon was more worried about Mako. 

"We have to get him!" he yelled.

"I know!" Gallantmon yelled back. "But we have to do something about the D-  
Reaper first!"

Beelzemon growled, but knew that they had to defend the city from the D-Reaper. _Mako, I swear I'll get you out of there. I won't lose you too._

* * *

Mako, eight years old, walked into the family room where Ai was sitting on the couch watching the television. Impmon was being antsy to go defend the city from the huge blob attacking. There were various reports about it and it was finally given a name. D-Reaper. 

"What should we do?" Ai asked, her eyes still glued to the news broadcast.

Mako shook his head. "I don't know."

Impmon growled. "I wanna go out there and fight that thing."

Mako looked at his sister and Ai looked at him. "Should we?" she asked.

"I'm…not sure…"

They looked at the news and then at each other. They both nodded, coming to an agreement. Grabbing their coats and D-Arc, they opened the door.

"Let's go."

* * *

"This is getting old," MegaGargomon said. 

"No kidding. They're not really doing anything," Ryo said in Justimon.

They blasted some chords away and none grew back to replace it, surprisingly. The blob of the D-Reaper just stayed there and didn't grow any other chords or things back.

"Guys!" a voice yelled.

MegaGargomon, Justimon, Suzie and Lopmon turned to see Gallantmon, Beelzemon, and everyone else come towards them.

"What's going on?" Henry asked.

"Mako got captured inside the D-Reaper and we have to go in after him," Gallantmon said.

"Well, I'm up for a little rescue mission," Terriermon said.

"Kenta," Takato said. "How did you get in the first time?"

He looked at everyone. "MarineAngemon just used his Kahuna Waves attack and it basically killed away the outer layer."

"Ok. Do it again."

Kenta nodded and looked at his small digimon partner. "Go ahead MarineAngemon."

"Pi," he answered. He went up to the D-Reaper and sprayed heart bubbles out of his mouth. "Kahuna Waves."

Just like the last time, the D-Reaper peeled away from the attacks and MarineAngemon made an entrance way.

"Great job, buddy," Kenta said.

"Ok. Let's go!" Beelzemon said, running in first.

As they all went in, they de-digivolved into their rookie levels, since the digimon couldn't stay in their mega forms in here. They followed the sidewalk and hoped it would lead to Mako.

* * *

Mako, Ai, and Beelzemon were running down the streets of Shinjuku, trying to get to the D-Reaper as soon as they could. They finally spotted a part of the D-Reaper oozing out of an alleyway. On closer inspection, it was starting to eat away at the building. Not only that, but the D-Reaper's agents were all over the place. 

"This is going to be interesting," Mako said.

Beelzemon scoffed. "Looks like target practice to me."

"Just be careful," Ai said.

"Don't worry."

He then leaped at the D-Reaper, causing the agents to become alive and fly up into the sky. Beelzemon used his guns and claws to destroy them, but more just kept popping up. Suddenly, a few new agents came. They were big blobs that had huge hooks for hands. One tried to attack Beelzemon, but he caught it and destroyed it.

"This looks bad," Ai said.

"Yeah, but that's because there's so many of them. They actually don't look that hard to beat. It's the big blob that's worrying me," Mako responded.

Ai nodded. "Yeah. I wonder what will happen if it starts attacking."

Beelzemon landed on the ground, panting. He had some scratches on him but was otherwise fine. The two were worried about their partner as he went back to fight them.

"Maybe we should get out of here and figure something else out," Ai said.

"Ok," Mako said. "Beelzemon…!"

Something then caught his eye. It was behind Ai. It was the agent with the hooks for hands. Everything seemed to go into slow motion. He started to move toward her, his eyes wide.

"Ai…" he started to yell.

He watched her see his expression, as he ran toward her. The agent's hooked arm lifted. Ai turned around, saw the agent, but didn't have time to do anything. She couldn't utter a scream as the hook came down on her.

Mako froze, his expression filled with shock. He watched helplessly as his sister's torn and bloody body fell to the ground. He screamed bloody murder that could be heard over the roar of the D-Reaper.

"AAAAIIIIII!" He ran toward her. He didn't care what happened to him. He had to get her out of there.

Beelzemon had heard the scream and his expression was filled with horror when he saw the body of Ai on the cold street. He then saw the agent that did it and saw it go after Mako. Giving out a battle cry, he attacked the agent, deleting it with his claws. He then looked at Mako, who was holding his sister's bloody body, crying.

"Mako…"

He looked up at his partner. "She's……dead…."

The dark memory of that day went through Mako's mind. He screamed as he saw his sister's death, screamed for it to stop. He was on his knees, holding his head. The D-Reaper agent Ai watched with a wicked smile on her face. A dark energy surrounded Mako and the agent started to lure it into her hand.

The tamers had heard him scream. They started to run down the sidewalk, hoping that they weren't too late. They finally got to him, on his knees, holding his head, and whimpering.

"Mako!" Impmon ran beside his partner. Not getting a response, he tugged and lightly pushed on Mako. He finally got Mako to look at him. The way Mako looked, though, sent chills up Impmon's spine. "Mako?"

"Impmon…" Tears started to form in his eyes. "I saw her…"

The tamers were confused and Impmon was too at first, but then realized something.

"Who?" He didn't want the answer to be what he thought it was. He regretted the question, but he had to know.

Mako took his hands off of his head and looked at Impmon with a new expression. "I saw her…I saw…….Ai…"

**To Be Continued…**

****

**Sorry it's been taking me so long. School's a killer as well as work. But I'll try to updating ASAP. Please review on what you think so.**


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